Li Zhanshu (R), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), meets with Gulmira Issimbayeva, vice speaker of the Majilis, the lower house of the Kazakh parliament, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Li Zhanshu on Tuesday met with Gulmira Issimbayeva, vice speaker of the Majilis, the lower house of the Kazakh parliament in Beijing.

Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said that China and Kazakhstan were friendly neighbors and saw each other as important partners and trustworthy friends.

He said that the relations between the two countries had achieved a leap-forward in development and demonstrated strong development momentum in recent years under the guidance of the two heads of state.

Kazakhstan is the first country to respond and participate in the construction of the Belt and Road, Li said, adding that the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries had yielded fruitful results and the two countries had established a model of complementary advantages and mutual benefit.

The NPC is willing to work with the Kazakh parliament to implement the consensus reached by the two leaders and carry out exchanges and cooperation on legislation and supervision to jointly provide a strong legal guarantee for deepening pragmatic cooperation, furthering people-to-people ties and enhancing bilateral relations.

Issimbayeva said the Kazakh parliament was willing to have more exchanges with the NPC to make contributions to consolidate and expand friendship between the two countries.