Aeronautics experts from Russia and China gathered Sunday for a two-day forum on cooperation in aviation and aeronautics in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The forum attracted experts from the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI), Kazan State Technical University and Samara State Aerospace University, and Chinese universities and institutions in aeronautics.

The forum, with its focus on aviation and aeronautic technologies, aims to promote exchanges in these areas between China and Russia.

The forum is being hosted by Northwestern Polytechnic University(NPU), a leading Chinese engineering university.

"With the good relationships between the NPU and Russian aviation universities, we can strengthen exchanges and cooperation," said Gennady A. Sokolovskiy, a professor with the MAI.

The forum, co-sponsored by the three Russian institutions and the NPU, is a listed event in the "Year of Russia in China".

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2006)