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China: Putin likely to visit in March
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-21 19:07
Russia's President Vladimir Putin will likely visit China in March for talks
with top leaders on bilateral and international issues, Beijing said Tuesday.
During the visit, Putin will
help open a cultural festival dubbed "Russian State Year in China," and hold
talks with Chinese leaders on "bilateral relations, as well as the views and
opinions of the two countries on international issues," said Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.
The visit will be early in the year, likely in March, said Liu at a regular
media briefing.
Putin and his Chinese counterparts "will also discuss how to maintain world
peace and promote world development," he said.
Putin has been expected to visit China twice this year _ first to unveil the
festival, then in June for an international summit.
After decades of rivalry, Moscow and Beijing have developed what they call a
strategic partnership since the 1991 Soviet collapse, pledging their adherence
to a "multipolar world."
In July last year, Putin and China's President Hu Jintao signed a declaration
warning other nations against attempts to dominate global affairs and interfere
in sovereign nations' domestic matters _ a veiled expression of their irritation
with U.S. policy and domination of global affairs.
The declaration was followed by a newly assertive stance that Moscow and
Beijing took on regional security issues.
In August, the two countries held their first-ever joint military maneuvers
involving heavy bombers, navy ships and other weaponry.
China has purchased billions of dollars (euros) worth of fighters, missiles,
submarines and destroyers after the Soviet collapse, becoming the top customer
for struggling Russian defense industries.
Beijing is also eager to tap into Russian oil and gas to fuel its booming
economy, and has lobbied hard for priority access over Japan to an oil pipeline
carrying Siberian crude to Asian markets.
The Russian Cabinet last year endorsed the Japanese-backed route to the
Pacific coast, but then decided the destination for its first stage would be
near the Chinese border.
Putin has said the two countries' annual trade volume is expected to double
by 2010 to US$60 billion.
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