ISTANBUL

China and Russia pledged to strengthen cooperation between their legislative bodies during talks in Moscow, China’s official news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday.

The meeting between Peng Qinghua, vice chair of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian State Duma, took place on Friday.

The talks coincided with the fourth session of the joint working group of the China-Russia committee for parliamentary cooperation, which Peng co-chaired with Deputy Duma Speaker Alexander Babakov.

Peng said Chinese-Russian relations are “at their best in history,” stressing Beijing’s readiness to work with Moscow to leverage the platform role of the joint group and advance bilateral ties.

During his Russia trip, which lasted from Tuesday to Saturday, Peng also met with Rustam Minnikhanov, head of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, and Farid Mukhametshin, the chair of Tatarstan’s State Council.