In recent development, H. E. Mr. Lu Shumin, the newly-appointed Chinese Ambassador to Canada, paid separate courtesy calls on Hon. Dan Hays, Speaker of the Canadian Senate and Hon. Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons.

Ambassador Lu, first of all, conveyed to the two speakers the cordial greetings and best wishes of Chairman Wu Bangguo of the NPC Standing Committee. He went on to thank them for the positive efforts they made, over the years, to foster the parliamentary exchanges and cooperation between China and Canada and invited them to visit China again at their convenience. The two speakers expressed thanks for this and asked Ambassador Lu to convey their best wishes to Chairman Wu Bangguo. Recalling fondly their respective visits to China in 2001 and 2002, they said the trips have left them with deep and wonderful memories and they look forward to visiting China again in the near future. They expressed their satisfaction over the fruitful result arising from the exchanges between the two parliaments in recent years. They said that the Canadian government attaches great importance to the cooperation between the two parliaments and expressed their readiness to work closely with their Chinese counterparts to push the excellent relationship to new heights.

Besides, Ambassador Lu also paid a courtesy call on Mr. Bernard Patry, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons.