Chinese Vice-President Meets Russian GuestsChinese Vice-President Hu Jintao met Thursday with Volsky Ivanovich, Russian co-chairman of the Sino-Russian Committee for Friendship, Peace and Development, and his delegation.Extending congratulations on the convening of the third plenary session of the Sino-Russian Committee for Friendship, Peace and Development, Hu said that China and Russia, both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and influential countries in the world, are major forces to safeguard world peace and stability and push forward multi-polarity. To develop neighborly, cooperative relations between the two countries is in line with the strategic interests of both sides and contributes to world peace and stability, he said. Hu added that through joint efforts, Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation has been developing smoothly and yielded remarkable results, and China is pleased with that. Under new circumstances, face-to-face dialogue between representatives of the two countries and increased mutual understanding and cooperation in various fields will be conducive to advancing bilateral relations steadily, he said. He said that top leaders of the two countries place great importance on the work of the Sino-Russian Committee, and Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Russian President Vladimir Putin sent congratulatory messages to the committee today, setting new goals for the committee. Hu expressed the conviction that good-neighborly and cooperative Sino-Russian relations will grow even stronger thanks to care of top leaders of the two countries and joint efforts. Ivanovich said that the Beijing Declaration signed by President Jiang and President Putin during the latter's China visit in July this year offered support to the committee, adding that the Russian members of the committee, who are dignitaries from all walks of life in Russia, love the cause of Sino-Russian friendship, and will work with their Chinese counterparts to promote bilateral relations. He said that the two countries are facing the same tasks of developing their respective economies, and the Russian people speak highly of China's reform and opening-up drive, and are willing to learn from its experience and deepen cooperation with China, adding that the committee can do more in these areas. |
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