Chinese Vice President Meets Russian Premier on Bilateral Ties

Hu Jintao Meets with Kasyanov

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Visiting Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao said Saturday in Moscow that the Chinese-Russian strategic partnership has gained momentum in recent years because of the efforts of both countries.

Hu made the remark when meeting Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.

Noting the mutually supportive nature of the economies of both states, Hu said economic cooperation serves as the material foundation for such partnership between the two sides.

Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has continually expanded in recent years with the trade volume of last year reaching as high as more than 8 billion U.S. dollars, he said.

Thanks to the endeavors of leaders and governments of the two countries, Chinese-Russian trade keeps increasing this year despite the slowdown in world economy, Hu said.

He said Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's recent visit to Moscow has resulted in a series of key documents on pragmatic cooperation in the fields of economics and trade, energy, and science and technology.

All these facts, Hu stressed, showed economic cooperation has stepped into the fast lane and is developing toward fitting in with the high-level political relations between the two countries.

Hu pledged joint efforts with the Russian side to further exploit the cooperation potential, improve cooperation quality and push forward the balanced and stable development of bilateral economic cooperation.

He also briefed the Russian premier on the current situation of the Chinese economy as well as plans for its future development.

Kasyanov, for his part, said frequent exchange of visits by leaders of both countries has pushed forward the strategic partnership between Russia and China.

Kasyanov said the good-neighborly treaty of friendship and cooperation signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin in July has set definite principles for the development of bilateral relations in the new century.

The Russian-Chinese relationship, which is now enjoying smooth development on the basis of equality and mutual trust, has great potential, said the premier.

Russia was willing to make joint efforts with China to tap the cooperation potential, he added.

Hu, who arrived here Saturday for a two-day working visit, also met with Russian Vice Premier Ilya Klebanov earlier Saturday on bilateral economic and trade relations.