Sino-Russian Cooperation Conducive to World Peace, Leaders Say

　　Chinese and Russian leaders have highlighted the importance of the Sino-Russian cooperation to world peace and development on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic ties.

　　Chinese President Jiang Zemin and his Russian counterpart Boris Yeltsin shared the view in their respective messages to congratulate each other on the event which fell on October 2, the day next to the founding of the People's Republic of China five decades ago.

　　"We are pleased to see that the relations between the two big neighbors of China and Russia have not only been set on normal tracks in a smooth and healthy way, but also are growing ripe," Jiang said in his message, adding the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership is being consistently reinforced and developed.

　　It has been proved that a Sino-Russian relationship of good neighborliness and cooperation not only conforms to the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples, but also is conducive to the peace and stability in the region and the world as a whole, Jiang said.

　　In his message to Jiang, Yeltsin said the past decades have testified that the guideline to establish a sound Russian-Chinese relationship and bilateral dialogs based on equality and trust is extremely necessary.

　　He pointed out that the Russian-Chinese strategic cooperative partnership is a key factor to promote the establishment of a multi-polar world pattern and safeguard the peace and development in Asia and the whole world.

　　To mark the occasion, Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress, and Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji also exchanged congratulation messages with Yegor Stroyev, chairman of the Russian Federal Assembly, Gennady Seleznev, chairman of the State Duma, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. (Xinhua)