Senior Chinese leader meets with Argentine judiciary official

Zhou Yongkang (R), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the CPC Central Committee, meets with the president of the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice Ricardo Luis Lorenzetti, in Beijing, capital of China, May 4, 2011. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese leader Zhou Yongkang met with visiting president of the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice Ricardo Luis Lorenzetti in Beijing on Wednesday, calling for further cooperation between the two countries' judicial bodies.

Zhou, a Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, praised the development of bilateral relations, noting that the two countries have participated in mutually beneficial cooperation in many fields since forging a strategic partnership in 2004.

"The relationship between China and Argentina has entered a new phase of fast development in an all-around way," Zhou said.

Zhou, who also heads the CPC Central Political and Legislative Affairs Committee, pointed out that China has made rapid economic development over the past years, but inevitably a lot of social conflicts have appeared in the meantime.

"Chinese courts at various levels are tasked with the unprecedented pressure of safeguarding social equity and justice as they handle about ten million legal cases every year," he told Lorenzetti.

Zhou noted that the quality of China's development needs to be raised, the people's livelihood needs to be improved, and various social problems should be dissolved from the root causes.

He added that current conflicts and problems can be better resolved by means of mediation in an effort to bolster social harmony.

"I hope the courts of China and Argentina can strengthen their exchanges and learn from each other to better serve their peoples," Zhou said.

Lorenzetti said Argentina and China share many similar tasks in the course of their development, such as addressing development imbalances and safeguarding social justice.

Argentine judges are willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with their Chinese counterparts in terms of enhancing judicial efficiency and better serve the people's judicial needs.