As the curtain fell on the "Year of China" in Russia in Moscow
yesterday, the prospects for continuing the momentum of the
Sino-Russian strategic partnership by increasing cooperation and
exchanges in all sectors never looked better.
There are ample reasons for the two countries to build upon what
they have already achieved. As Russian President Putin told his
Chinese counterpart, President Hu Jintao, in September during their
fifth meeting this year: "We have achieved a peak in
Russian-Chinese relations in recent times."
Both countries are striving to develop the economic and social
prospects of their people.
Both have cooperated on efforts to resolve thorny international
issues such as the nuclear programs on the Korean Peninsula and in
Iran and to combat the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism
and extremism.
The warm relations have come quite naturally. The two countries
share a border that stretches more than 4,300 km and have had
regular exchanges going back for centuries. As it took its infant
steps, New China relied much on the support, assistance and
training from its big neighbor in the north, who also helped lay
the foundation for China's industrial development.
True, there have been times when the two countries have been at
odds. But those upsets and the gains in the past decade only
demonstrate how important it is for the two countries to maintain
high-level exchanges and deepen trust, expand cooperation and
increase people-to-people exchanges.
It is encouraging that the two countries' leaders had the
farsightedness to embrace the concept of "friendship for
generations" with the signing of the Sino-Russian Good-Neighborly
Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.
The sound and stable growth of bilateral Sino-Russian relations
will help not only guarantee the continuous development of the two
countries, but also contribute to world peace and stability.
(China Daily November 7, 2007)
