He Guoqiang (R), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee meets with  Mikola Azarov, Chairman of the Party of Regions of Ukraine at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, April 18, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Party of Regions of Ukraine signed an agreement on Monday to expand cooperation between the ruling parties of the two countries.

The agreement was signed at the end of a meeting between He Guoqiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the Party of Regions Mikola Azarov.

Founded in 1921, the CPC has about 70 million members, while the Party of Regions was created in 1997 and is now the largest political party in Ukraine.

He recalled the rapid growth of relations between the two parties, saying the agreement will drive in-depth growth of bilateral relations and benefit the two nations.

Azarov said he was deeply impressed with China's profound changes on his most recent trip. It has been more than 20 years since Azarov's last visit to China.

As a ruling party itself, his party - the Party of Regions - would like to work more closely with the CPC, Azarov said.

Azarov expected the new agreement to help the two parties increase mutual understanding and play a part in boosting economic and social development in both countries.

On broadening China-Ukraine ties, He said that the bilateral relationship has developed smoothly since the two countries first established diplomatic ties in 1992, citing frequent high-level visits and productive cooperation in trade and people-to-people exchanges.

He reviewed past summits held between the presidents of the two countries last year and underscored the importance of their consensus.

He highlighted the latest meeting held on Thursday in Sanya, Hainan Province, between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Azarov, also prime minister of Ukraine, on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) 2011 annual meeting that opened in Boao of Hainan Friday.

"China would like to work with Ukraine to carry out the consensus reached by heads of state and government leaders and usher in a new era of bilateral cooperation," He said.

He, also head of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, briefed Azarov on the CPC's efforts for organizational building, improving CPC's style of work and upholding integrity, as well as to fight corruption.