BEIJING - China's top legislator Wu Bangguo on Thursday called for more parliamentary exchanges between China and the United States, saying that dialogue and communication could help improve mutual trust.

Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), made the remarks when meeting with a delegation of senior US Senators in Beijing.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (right) talks with a delegation of senior US Senators led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, April 21, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

Wu said the NPC has established a regular exchange mechanism with the US side, which has already played a positive role in developing Sino-American relations.

"I hope the two sides could keep improving dialogue and communication to continue to help enhance mutual trust and cooperation between China and the United States," Wu said.

Talking about bilateral relations, Wu stressed that China and the United States share many more common interests than differences.

China will work with the United States to actively implement the consensus reached between President Hu Jintao and President Barack Obama, and hopes that the two countries could take each other's key concerns into consideration, and foster cooperation and promote friendship to a higher level, Wu said.

The delegation was led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and consisted of nine other senators.

Reid said the United States and China share similar views on many significant issues, and the US Senate hopes to work with the NPC to push forward the bilateral cooperation in fields such as trade, environment and clean energy.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping also met with the delegation on Thursday.

China-US relations cannot develop without the participation and support from the US congress, Xi said.

Xi said he hopes the US Senators will actively promote and support bilateral exchanges and cooperation, and play constructive roles in promoting the cooperative partnership between the two countries.

Xi said China and the United States are building a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit. China hopes to improve political trust with the United States, promote mutually beneficial cooperation and improve coordination in international affairs.

Xi also briefed the US Senators on China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), calling on the two sides to seize the opportunities to expand mutual investment, cement cooperation in clean energy and infrastructure construction and further improve economic and trade cooperation.

He also said he hopes that the two countries could overcome the interference of protectionism and properly resolve trade disputes through consultation on an equal footing.

China is the United States' second largest trading partner and its third largest export market with bilateral trade totalling 38.534 billion US dollars in 2010, according to China's Commerce Ministry.

Reid said the cooperation between the United States and China has contributed to world peace, stability and prosperity and the US Senate will make unremitting efforts to promote US-China relations.

Lu Yongxiang, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, also met the delegation on Thursday.

On Thursday morning, the delegation took the high-speed train to Tianjin and visited a clean energy company in Langfang of Hebei Province.

The week-long tour will also take the delegation to the cities of Chengdu and Xi'an in west China.