Li Peng Meets Russian Duma DelegationLi Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), told a senior member of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia Thursday that China pays great attention to its friendly relations with Russia and believes the relations will grow further.Li said during a meeting with Dmitry Rogozin, chairman of the International Affairs Committee under the Duma, and his party, who arrived here on June 25 at the invitation of the NPC's Foreign Affairs Committee, that China-Russia relations will have new development under the joint efforts from both sides. "China-Russia relations have grown rapidly over the past few years," he said. "We have scored remarkable achievements in the cooperation in areas of politics, economy and trade, science and technology and international affairs as the state leaders of our two countries exchanged visits frequently." Russian President Vladimir Putin, since taking office, has repeatedly said that Russia will continue to push forward its strategic cooperative partnership with China. The Chinese side highly values his remarks and believes China-Russia relations will develop to new highs under the joint efforts of both sides, Li said. In addition, the Chinese parliament chairman said that both China and Russia support building a mutli-polarized world instead of a single-polarized one, adding that single-polarization is a dangerous trend, and harmful to world peace. China and Russia also oppose the deployment of national missile defense system (NMD) by the United States, he noted. The deployment of NMD is a concept inherited from the Cold War mentality, and is threatening world peace. Rogozin said Russia and China share the same stand and attitude on many issues. He stressed that he hopes the two countries and parliaments of the two strengthen their cooperation in various areas. The Russian chairman said he and his delegation were deeply impressed with the changes in China after the country adopted the policy of reform and opening to the outside world. Chairman of NPC Foreign Affairs Committee Zeng Jianhui, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Ji Peiding, and Russian Ambassador to China Igor A. Rogachev were present at the meeting. |
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