Chinese President Arrives in Moscow to Boost Cooperation

Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for a state visit aimed at deepening pragmatic cooperation between China and Russia.

Hu said in a statement released upon his arrival at the airport that his visit intends to inject fresh impetus into the sustained, healthy and stable growth of the China-Russia strategic partnership of cooperation.

In the Russian capital, Hu will meet with President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The two sides will exchange views on planning for the development of China-Russia relations in the next decade and on major regional and international issues.

As the international situation is undergoing profound and complicated changes, the great cause of peace and development of the mankind now faces a number of challenges, Hu said in his statement.

Hu expressed China's willingness to work with Moscow to focus on deepening the China-Russia strategic partnership of cooperation in an all-round way.

Noting that this year marked the 10th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, Hu said the two countries should always adhere to the principles of the treaty and advocate the idea of friendship from generation to generation.

He said China is ready to work with Russia to make new and greater contributions to the sustainable growth and comprehensive rejuvenation of the two countries, as well as to the benefits of their peoples and to world peace and development.` Over the past decade, the China-Russia strategic partnership of cooperation has seen unprecedented development under the guidance of the principles and spirit of the treaty, Hu said, citing strengthened political mutual trust, enhanced pragmatic cooperation in an all-round way and improved cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two sides.

China and Russia have also carried out effective and fruitful coordination and cooperation in regional and international affairs, said the Chinese president.

Hu said that growth of China-Russia relations has promoted the development of both countries, pushed forward the process of multi-polarization of the world and played an important role in promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.

In the past decade, the development of China-Russia ties has made remarkable progress. Political and strategic mutual trust between the two nations have deepened continuously. The two countries have established mechanisms for high-level exchange of visits and all-round cooperation.

The two nations have become each other's major trading partner, and have coordinated closely in dealing with major world and regional affairs.

In 2010, Hu and Medvedev held six bilateral meetings, and reached important agreements on further deepening the China-Russia strategic partnership of cooperation.

Last year, their two-way trade volume reached 55.4 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 43 percent over the previous year.

In the first part of this year, the development of bilateral ties has maintained a sound momentum.

Two months ago, the Chinese and Russian presidents met for the first time this year on the sidelines of a BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in the southern Chinese beach resort of Sanya, and the two leaders agreed to further improve cooperation and safeguard common interests.

The China-Russia oil pipeline started operation at the beginning of this year, and the fifth round of their strategic security consultations last January was a great success.

In the first four months of this year, bilateral trade stood at 22.3 billion dollars. The two countries have also had closer coordination and cooperation in dealing with international and regional affairs.

Speaking at a press conference last month, Medvedev spoke highly of bilateral ties between Russia and China, saying their bilateral cooperation has bright prospects.

"I think our relations are excellent. As my Chinese partners' saying, we might have never had such advanced and good relations," Medvedev said. "We hope our relations will continue boosting in the next years and decades."

Meeting with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi last month, the Russian president said that Hu's visit is a big event for bilateral ties, and Russia would give high priority and make joint efforts with China to ensure the success of the visit.

Hu flew to Moscow from Astana after a visit to Kazakhstan and a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

From Moscow, the Chinese president will travel to St. Petersburg, where he is expected to deliver a speech at the opening ceremony of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

(Source: Xinhua)