Senior Chinese parliamentary official Tian Jiyun met his South African counterpart here Friday as part of a five-nation tour to build links with other parliaments, officials said.
Tian, deputy chairperson of National People's Congress of China (NPC), held talks at parliament with Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete.
The meeting was aimed at "expanding mutual co-operation between the NPC and parliament," a statement said.
Tian briefly met Speaker Frene Ginwala on Thursday.
His visit to South Africa was the final stop in a tour which has already covered Malta, Morocco, Mozambique and Tunisia, an embassy official told AFP.
Tian is due to return home on Sunday.
South Africa established diplomatic relations with China at the beginning of 1998 after severing ties with Taiwan, recognized by the apartheid government.
Since then there has been a flurry of official visits between the two countries, including a four-day state visit to South Africa in April by Chinese President Jiang Zemin -- CAPE TOWN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
