China and South Africa pledged Friday to step up legislative cooperation to cement the bilateral strategic partnership.

The pledge came out of the meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa Max Sisulu in Beijing.

Hu said growing China-South Africa relations require stronger collaboration between the legislatures of the two countries.

Hu hoped the two legislatures could launch their regular exchange mechanism at an appropriate time and work to improve such mechanism.

Sisulu said the the National Assembly of South Africa hoped to make a new contribution to boosting cooperation between the two countries.

On China-South Africa relations, Hu said bilateral relations have “reaped good harvests” since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1998.

Sisulu agreed with Hu’s comments, saying China’s remarkable progress contributes to world peace and development and inspires South Africa and other African countries.

Also Friday, Wu Bangguo, chairman of China’s National People’s Congress(NPC) Standing Committee, held hour-long talks with Sisulu at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Wu said the NPC and the National Assembly of South Africa have a good foundation for cooperation, and urged the two legislatures to maintain exchanges at a high level.

While calling for the two legislatures to work more closely in regional and international legislative organizations, Wu said a regular exchange mechanism should be launched as early as possible so as to improve ties between the legislatures of the two countries.

Sisulu said the National Assembly of South Africa and the NPC of China should strengthen bilateral exchanges and seek closer cooperation in multilateral legislative organizations.

As South Africa is a big country in Africa and an important emerging economy, China hopes to communicate more and coordinate with South Africa over Sino-African cooperation so as to advance China-Africa relations and South-South cooperation, Wu said.

The visit to China was Sisulu’s first since he was elected to the position of speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa in May 2009.

Apart from Beijing, Sisulu will also visit the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest water control project, on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China’s longest.