Foreign and Military Affairs

Chinese VP meets with mayor of St. Petersburg

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-22 13:22

Chinese VP meets with mayor of St. Petersburg

Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping (L) shakes hands with Valentina Matviyenko, mayor of St. Petersburg during his visit to the city on Sunday, March 21, 2010. [Photo/ Xinhua]

Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping met with Valentina Matviyenko, mayor of St. Petersburg on issues of Sino-Russian relations at the Smolny Palace on Sunday.

Xi, who is on a five-day official visit to Russia, said in the meeting that the China-Russia strategic partnership of cooperation has been consistently developing and reached an unprecedented high level marked by intense high-level exchanges and strengthened political trust.

The occasions for dialogues between the two countries have been developing at various levels, and the practical cooperations in areas of trade, investment, energy and technological have yielded remarkable results, he said.

The vice-president said that China and Russia have been staunch supporters to each other on issues of core interests. The two sides have also been collaborative in major international and regional affairs.

Cultural exchanges in particular, have been expanding, he said, noting that the Year of Russian Language in China have ended with encouraging results, and the Year of Chinese Language in Russia is to kick off in no time.

China and Russia, being one another's largest neighbours, are endowed with great advantages in carrying out cooperation in regional levels, Xi said, adding that such cooperation on the regional levels have been developing both in size and depth.

Last year, China became the biggest trade partner for St. Petersburg, which is also a friendly city of Shanghai, Xi said. Over the years, the two cities have sought cooperation in economy, finance and technology. Xi said that he hopes that the upcoming World Expo in Shanghai will create more chances for cooperation between the coastal cities.

Matviyenko said that Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, is looking forward to meeting with Xi in Moscow. She said that the city has developed in tandem with growing friendship between China and Russia. The people of St. Petersburg harbors warm feelings toward China.

She said Xi's visit is historical and will push for more collaboration between the city and China. In the recent years, St. Petersburg has been developing close relations with Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Qingdao, she said, adding that she hopes more cooperative projects will be possible in areas of tourism and infrastructure construction.

Vice-President Xi also visited an office in the Smolny Palace where Vladimir Lenin led the October Revolution in 1917.