Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang on Tuesday called on China and Russia to jointly raise the level of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a China-Russia economic forum, which he attended with Russian counterpart Alexander Zhukov, Zhang reviewed economic and trade cooperation over the past 60 years.

He said it was in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples to strengthen economic and trade cooperation.

It would not only help cope with the economic crisis, but also help promote the economic development of both countries and the recovery of the world economy, he said.

Zhang suggested the two sides enhance cooperation in four aspects.

First, he suggested they strengthen industrial cooperation. The two sides should take full advantage of the mechanism of regular meetings between the Chinese premier and Russian prime minister, and turn the inter-governmental consensus on industrial cooperation to extensive cooperation among industries and large enterprises in the areas of investment, technological transformation and industrial standardization.

Second, he suggested they change the pattern of trade. The two sides should jointly fight the practice of "gray customs clearance," which refers to the practice by some Russian clearance companies of bringing imported goods into the Russian market at a tax rate lower than regulated levels, standardize customs supervision and guide enterprises and businesses to operate according to the law and take the healthy road of sustainable development.

Third, he suggested they improve financial services. The two sides should enhance the banking settlement and credit cooperation, encourage banks to set up standing bodies in each other's countries, and guide financial institutions to provide more extensive and better services for the enterprises of both countries.

Fourth, they should create a good environment for investment, improve the conditions of infrastructure and tax, expand market access and enhance protection for the rights of investors. The two sides should also adhere to opening markets to each other and oppose protectionism in any form.

Zhang also briefed the representatives to the forum on Chinese government measures to cope with the financial crisis and China's economic situation.

In the keynote speech, Zhukov said the convening of each Sino-Russian economic and business forum was a major event in bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

He said the fourth Sino-Russian economic and business forum was convened against the backdrop of the two countries coping with the global financial crisis as well as the 60 anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties and the 14th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian prime ministers.

"Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have attached great importance to the forum," he said.

"Although bilateral trade volume has declined under the impact of financial crisis, I believe the difficulties are temporary, and the two governments have taken joint measures to contain the negative impact of the crisis on the bilateral economic and trade cooperation," Zhukov said.

He said the measures would positively promote cooperation in the fields of energy, investment, space technology, science and technology, forestry,transportation, infrastructure, resource exploration and finance.

Before the opening of the forum, Zhang and Zhukov attended the signing of bilateral economic and trade cooperative projects worth 4 billion U.S. dollars among financial institutions and enterprises of the two countries.

The forum was part of the mechanism of reciprocal national theme years -- the Year of Russia in China in 2006 and Year of China in Russia in 2007 -- and was co-sponsored by China's Ministry of Commerce and Russia's Ministry of Economic Development.

About 900 business people from the two countries participated in the forum, which included seminars to discuss the topics such as mechanical and electrical equipment trade, finance, infrastructure construction and e-commerce.