China and Russia should further cement and deepen the strategic
partnership of cooperation, said Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao on Wednesday, at a meeting with Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
The two countries should place their relationship at a more
prominent point in their foreign affairs, Wen said.
Bilateral relations had entered a new phase of development since
the two countries set up the strategic partnership of cooperation
and signed the Sino-Russian Good Neighborly Treaty of
Friendship and Cooperation, Wen noted.
The events of the Year of Russia and the Year of China were the
fruits of these relations and reflected the political willingness
of Chinese and Russian leaders to promote all-round cooperation.
The expectation of the two countries was to promote friendship for
future generations, he said.
Wen said the stable and mutually-beneficial economic and trade
cooperation between China and Russia fitted the long-term interests
of both nations.
The two countries should continue expanding bilateral trade,
optimize trade structure, enhance energy cooperation and encourage
mutual investment so as to lay a more solid base for the
development of bilateral relations, Wen said. .
Putin said Russian-Chinese relations were developing at a high
level and the two countries were? creating a sound political
environment for the growth of the Sino-Russian strategic
partnership of cooperation.
The bilateral trade exchanges were enjoying rapid growth, Putin
said, and called for both countries to continue increasing
cooperation in energy, machine engineering, transport,
telecommunications, finance, aerospace and environmental
protection.
(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2006)