TEHRAN Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao here on Saturday said Israel should withdraw from occupied territories and expressed hope that the Middle East crisis would be resolved in a logical and just manner.

In meeting with Majlis Speaker Hojjatoleslam Mahdi Karrubi, the visiting Chinese official pointed to the traditional and age-old ties between China and Iran and called for the continuity and strengthening of the bilateral relations in all fields.

Hu said history, with its ups and downs, has confirmed the sincerity of friendship between the two countries many times.

He delivered an invitation from the chairman of Chinese National People's Congress to Karrubi to visit China and expressed hope that his visit would be a positive step in the promotion of bilateral ties.

According to Majlis Public Relations Department, Karrubi pointed to the common history and civilization of Iran and China and cultural and geographical links between the two countries and said, "The history of bilateral relations is blended with the history of mankind and following the victory of the Islamic Revolution and especially in the past few years, it has had an expanding trend in all fields."

Karrubi pointed to frequent exchange of visits by the officials of the two countries and said it demonstrates that both countries give priority to the promotion of bilateral relations.

He stressed on the high position of parliaments in democratic countries and said parliaments are the strong arms of nations and governments and play an effective role in the expansion of relations.

Karrubi noted the plan proposed by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei to resolve the Palestinian problem and the atrocities committed by the occupation regime and said, "Unfortunately, we have been witnessing the martyrdom of Palestinian men, women and even children in their own motherland and we expect big powers including China to cooperate more with the countries of the region to resolve the problem."

(IRNA)