President Jiang Arrives in Moscow for State Visit

Chinese President Arrives in Moscow

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Chinese President Jiang Zemin arrived in Moscow Sunday afternoon by special plane , kicking off his four-day state visit to Russia.

Jiang and his wife were greeted by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov and his wife, and other Russian officials at the airport. Jiang's entourage includes Vice Premier Qian Qichen.

In a written statement issued upon his arrival, Jiang said that he was very pleased to pay a state visit to Russia in the first year of the new century.

Jiang said, as two big neighboring countries, China and Russia have a friendship with long tradition. The two established a strategic partnership in 1996, which has strongly pushed forward the mutual beneficial cooperation between the two countries in all fields, he added.


President Jiang Arrives in Moscow for State Visit

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Jiang said he was satisfied with the sound and active development of the bilateral relations, which has constantly gained fresh fruits since the starting of the new century.

"The consolidation and strengthening of the new-type state relations, which feature with the principles of good neighborly friendship, equal trust, mutual beneficial cooperation and common development, serve not only the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples but also the peace, stability and development of the region and the rest of the world," he stressed.

Jiang said he is expecting to sign with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a historic treaty on bilateral good-neighborly friendship and cooperation, which will lay a solid foundation for further long-term development of Sino-Russian relations.

During his visit, Jiang said, he will exchange views with Putin on bilateral relations and major global issues of common concerns.

He will also meet Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, Federation Council speaker Yegor Stroyev and State Duma speaker Gennady Seleznyov, and make a speech at the Moscow University during his visit.

Jiang said that his on-going visit will definitely "promote the political trust, deepen the traditional friendship, expand mutual beneficial cooperation and boost common development" between Russia and China.

Russia is the first leg of Jiang's five-nation European trip, which will also take him to Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Malta.