The speakers of both houses of the Russian parliament said on
Tuesday during meetings with Chinese Supreme Court President Xiao
Yang that Russia-China relations are at their best in history and
bilateral cooperation has reached a new level.
During a meeting with Xiao, Sergei Mironov, speaker of the upper
house, the Federation Council, said ties between Russia and China
are at their best ever in history and President Vladimir Putin's
state visit to China last month was a complete success that helped
elevate the ties.
China is hosting the Year of Russia, and next year it is
Russia's turn to host the Year of China, both of which events serve
the fundamental interests of the two peoples, Mironov said.
At a separate meeting with Xiao, who arrived Sunday for a visit
to Russia, Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the lower house, the State
Duma, said President Putin's visit boosted bilateral relations to a
new high.
Gryzlov also praised the cooperation between the member
countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization since its
founding five years ago.
Xiao, for his part, said China-Russia relations have witnessed
unprecedented progress recently, especially after President Putin's
China visit, when Chinese President Hu Jintao and Putin signed a
joint statement embodying the extensive common ground between the
two countries in the political, economic, cultural, scientific and
technological, and judiciary areas.
The Chinese top judge said he was visiting Russia to implement
the judiciary cooperation set out in the joint statement.
On Monday, Xiao held talks with the head of the Russian Supreme
Court, Vyacheslav Lebedev, and put forward proposals that included
establishing a judiciary cooperation mechanism and boosting
cooperation in cracking down cross-border crimes, in particular
financial crimes, drug trafficking, money laundering and fighting
corruption.
Lebedev briefed Xiao on the measures the Russian Supreme Court
is taking in protecting intellectual property rights, cracking down
drug trafficking and money laundering, as well as improving
judiciary transparency.
(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006)
