Chinese President Hu Jintao and visiting Russian
President Vladimir Putin began their talks at the Great Hall of the People in
Beijing on Tuesday afternoon.
In the opening address, Hu said this year marks the 10th anniversary of the
establishment of China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination and fifth
anniversary of the Sino-Russian good neighborly treaty of friendship and
cooperation.
Chinese President Hu
Jintao (R) shakes hands with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in
the Great Hall of the People in Beijing prior to holding official talks
March 21, 2006. [newsphoto] |
"The fact
that President Putin is heading such a big delegation to China and will attend
the opening ceremony of the Year of Russia in China demonstrates that Putin
highly values the Sino-Russian relations," Hu said.
"I believe this visit, especially the hosting of the theme year in the
other's country, will enhance the mutual understanding between the two peoples
and advance the China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination," Hu said.
Echoing Hu's remarks, Putin said the start of the Year of Russia in China,
which is unprecedented in scale and involves activities in various fields, shows
that the current Russia-China relations have reached "a very high level, and
laid a better foundation for the future development of the Russia-China
relations."
Hu and Pu also held a closed door meeting before their official talks.
Putin arrived here on Tuesday morning for a two-day
state visit at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao. This is Putin's
second visit to China since he was reelected Russian President in
2004.
"Moscow-Beijing relations are now
at their highest point in their entire history," Sergei Prikhodko, Putin's
foreign policy adviser, told the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass.
Putin was
accompanied by a 90-member delegation of leaders of Russia's state-owned Rosneft
oil company and Gazprom gas monopoly, as well as aircraft, telecommunications
and other industries.
Earlier Tuesday, Putin and Chinese State
Councillor Tang Jiaxuan attended the opening of a media center to promote
an upcoming Russian cultural year in China.
On Wednesday, the Russian leader - a black belt in judo - was
scheduled to visit Shaolin, the Chinese temple regarded as the birthplace of the
martial art kungfu.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the
goal for both sides is to "strengthen our cooperation in various fields and step
up good neighborly relations."
Qin said to boost ties, China and Russia in
recent years have held joint military exercises, stepped up mutual support in
territorial sovereignty and made breakthroughs in energy cooperation.
"All in all, the current stage of the China-Russia strategic partnership has
reached a very high level and we have diverse and rich progress in our
cooperation," Qin told reporters at a regular briefing. "We have a bright and
broad future."