The National People's Congress will further leverage the unique advantages of the legislative body in external exchanges to serve the overall national diplomatic agenda, Lou Qinjian, spokesman for the third session of the 14th NPC, said on Tuesday.

"The NPC international external exchanges are an important part of China's overall diplomacy and the work of the NPC. Over the past year, the NPC has expanded and deepened exchanges and cooperation with parliaments across the world, as well as multilateral parliamentary organizations, and we have made new progress," Lou said at a press conference one day before the opening of the third session of the 14th NPC.

He revealed that so far, the NPC has maintained interactions with parliaments of 190 countries, set up 26 international external exchange mechanisms and 143 bilateral friendship groups, and is also a member and observer of more than 20 multilateral parliaments organizations, including the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Last year, Zhao Leiji, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, held meetings or talks with more than 100 foreign leaders, while the NPC hosted delegations from 86 countries, and sent 71 delegations to 68 countries to visit or attend international conferences, according to him.

"We have carried out in-depth exchanges in governance and legislation experience," he said. "For instance, by visiting the Museum of the Communist Party of China, foreign parliamentarians get to understand that the leadership by the CPC in China is a choice by the history and by the people."

By visiting legislative outreach offices and stations of deputies to the people's congresses at grassroots level, foreign parliamentarians have also gained an understanding that China's whole-progress people's democracy is extensive, genuine and effective democracy, he said.

Additionally, by visiting localities, enterprises and villages, foreign parliamentarians were able to witness firsthand China's achievements in poverty alleviation and its path to modernization, he added.

He said the NPC will continue to leverage its unique strength as a legislative body in external exchanges, better serve China's overall diplomacy, and write a new chapter in the NPC's external exchanges on the new journey of advancing Chinese modernization.