Chairman Wu Bangguo of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) who was paying an official good-will visit to Malaysia met in the hotel where he stayed with Rahman, Head of Penang, Malaysia

On the morning of May 29, 2005, Chairman Wu Bangguo of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) who was paying an official good-will visit to Malaysia met in the hotel where he stayed with Rahman, Head of Penang, Malaysia.

Wu said that the friendly exchanges at the local level are of great importance to enhancing the understanding and friendship between peoples and promoting the bilateral relations. Penang is an important economic center of Malaysia. Well-known among the Chinese people, the city has had close exchanges with some Chinese localities in history and enjoys unique advantages in developing cooperation with China. Now Penang has established friendship with Xiamen and close links with many other Chinese cities. The exchanges and cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, culture and tourism are highly dynamic, which plays an active role in promoting the friendly relations between China and Malaysia. He expressed hope that the local governments of the two countries would make use of their respective advantages to expand the cooperation areas, renovate cooperation methods and promote common development.

On behalf of the Penang government and people, Rahman extended warm welcome to Chairman Wu's visit. He said, " I have visited China on many occasions and each time I have had a pleasant memory. Penang expects to strengthen cooperation with China in various fields including economy and trade, education and tourism in a bid to contributing to the development of Malaysia-China strategic cooperative relations."

Zhang Ruizhen, wife of Chairman Wu Bangguo, Re Di, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of NPC, Rahman's wife and Penang's Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon were present at the meeting. On the morning, Wu also visited the historical site of SunYat-sen's revolutionary activities in Penang. On the afternoon of May 29, Wu's delegation left Penang for Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia by a special plane. On the evening Chairman Wu and his wife Zhang Ruizhen attended the welcome banquet hosted by Speaker RAMLI of the House of Representatives of Malaysia.