Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev vowed on Thursday to jointly push forward the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership.

They were meeting on the sidesline of a summit of BRIC nations -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- in Brasilia, where they discussed bilateral ties and major international and regional affairs.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Brasilia, Brazil, April 15, 2010. [Ju Peng/Xinhua]

Hu said the Chinese-Russian strategic cooperative partnership made important headway last year with activities marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties and the "Year of the Russian language" in China.

Since the beginning of this year, the partnership has maintained comprehensive and rapid growth at a high level, said Hu.

This year is pivotal to the profound adjustment of the international structure and the recovery of the world economy, and both China and Russia are in their critical period of development.

Supporting each other, seizing the opportunities and properly tackling the challenges are of paramount importance for both countries in safeguarding their core interests and promoting mutual development, Hu said.

He put forward a four-point proposal on enhancing bilateral cooperation this year.

As the first point, both countries should increase mutual support on issues concerning each other's core interests to establish solid strategic support and safeguard their mutual interests, Hu said.

Secondly, China and Russia should maintain coordination and cooperation on international and regional affairs and make good use of such cooperation mechanisms as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRIC to push for change in the international order that favors the interests of the developing countries, he said.