Chairman of Russian Federation Council Sergei Mironov has called for further deepening Russian-Chinese partnership of strategic cooperation.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua prior to his visit to China, Mironov, the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, said China is Russia's friend, neighbor and partner and he is looking forward to his upcoming talks with the Chinese leadership.

At the invitation of Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China, Mironov is scheduled to head a Russian Federation Council delegation to visit China from Monday to Tuesday.

He also expressed his hope for the further strengthening of cooperation and exchanges between the two countries' parliaments.

Describing the cooperation between the Russian Federation Council and the Standing Committee of the NPC of China as constructive, Mironov urged direct contacts and collaboration between their special committees.

The cooperation between the two legislatures should not be reflected only in the mutual visits between the leaders of the two nations and exchanges of high-level delegations, he said.

Russia and China, as the permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations, share common views on many international issues, Mironov said.

"When the two powers take the same stand in the international affairs, that is a powerful force," he said.

Pointing out the great potentials in developing bilateral economic and trade cooperation, Mironov stressed the necessity to complement the Russian-Chinese Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed by the heads of the two nations with new concrete contents.

He said he would suggest Russia's related departments to work out and approve new laws aimed at improving Russia's economic and trade environment so that both Russia and China would enjoy benefit from it.

Mironov also speak highly the great achievements made by China in economic reforms. He said he saw with his own eyes the enormous changes in China during his previous visits to Beijing and Shanghai.

These achievements are convincing and Russia is ready to study China's experiences and use them for reference, he said.

Speaking of Russia's domestic situation, Mironov said that Russia has maintained three years a stable economic development while the political situation has been steady as well.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2003)