Chinese vice premier holds talks with Costa Rican vice president

SAN JOSE, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu held talks on Wednesday with Costa Rican Vice President Laura Chinchilla Miranda on bilateral ties and cooperation.

Hui said Chinese President Hu Jintao and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias have reached a broad consensus on the prospect of political, trade and cultural exchanges.

Hui said China is willing to strengthen the exchange of visits by the leaders of the two countries, and further promote political trust and the bilateral reciprocal relations.

China will encourage its enterprises that have enjoyed a competitive edge and good reputation to invest in Costa Rica and expand bilateral cooperation in agriculture, water conservancy, science and technologies, Hui said.

Chinchilla said the ties between Costa Rica and China have enjoyed a rapid progress and bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields have been expanded since the two countries established diplomatic relations nearly a year ago.

Costa Rica thanks China for its support, saying that her country is willing to maintain frequent exchange of visits by the leaders of the two countries as well as personnel exchanges at all levels, Chinchilla said

Meanwhile, Costa Rica will maintain coordination and communication with China on regional and international issues to push the bilateral ties to a higher level, she said.

After the talks, the two leaders attended a ceremony of signing a memorandum of cooperation on water resources between the two countries.

On Wednesday, Hui also met Costa Rican parliament speaker Francisco Pacheco over parliamentary cooperation. The two agreed to let this cooperation play a unique role in promoting the mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples and opening up new channels and areas for broader cooperation of mutual benefits.