Chinese President Hu
Jintao, currently on a state visit to Russia, said on Thursday
he hoped this visit would further enhance political mutual trust,
expand economic and trade cooperation, promote humanities exchanges
and strengthen strategic coordination between Russia and
China.
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Continued cooperation would give new impetus to the China-Russia
strategic partnership and serve the interests of the two peoples,
Hu said at a private dinner on Thursday evening hosted by Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
Hu said he is very pleased to be visiting Russia again. He noted
that recent years have seen a good momentum of development in their
bilateral strategic partnership, while cooperation has continuously
expanded in the political, economic, trade, energy resources,
investment, cultural, educational and military sectors, with
satisfactory results.
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Both countries have also undertaken good coordination and
cooperation in international affairs, Hu added.
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President Putin said he was happy to welcome Hu to Moscow again,
adding that Russia highly values its strategic partnership of
coordination with China.
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The two countries will hold their first military exercises this
year, Putin added, and the two sides are expected to sign several
cooperation agreements.
Hu will also visit Novorsibirsk, Russia's third largest city
after Moscow and St. Petersburg.
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After Russia, Hu proceeds to Kazakhstan, the second leg of his
ongoing three-nation tour, which will also take him to Britain
where he will attend the G8 plus five Summit.
In 2001, the two countries signed the Sino-Russian
Good-neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, which serves
as the legal foundation of bilateral friendly relations.
Last year, trade between the two countries reached a record high
of US$21.2 billion, or a 34.7 percent increase over the previous
year. In the first three months of this year, the trade volume
increased 20.7 percent over the corresponding period of last
year.
(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2005)
