Russian Bear and Chinese Dragon boast solid cooperation

Russia-China relations have acquired “excellent dynamics”, President Medvedev said during a meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Having welcomed Jaiabao to his residence outside Moscow, Medvedev noted that their meeting was “a reflection of a sustained and productive dialog which exists between Russia and the Chinese People's Republic".The Russian president recalled that just a few days ago he met with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. The two held talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Seoul and then in Yokohama, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. “Now we have had our governmental events. All this strengthens the wonderful dynamics that the Russian-Chinese relations have acquired," Medvedev said. Wen Jiabao arrived in Russia on Monday. The tight schedule of the visit has so far included a meeting with Premier Vladimir Putin, attending a forum on tiger protection, opening the 5th Russian-Chinese economic forum as well as taking part in the signing ceremony for a number of bilateral agreements. Talking to the Russian president, the Chinese premier noted that his meeting with Putin brought “huge results”. Documents on cooperation in economy, finance, transport, customs, as well as in other fields were singed. “All that means that our trade and economic cooperation has reached a new level of quality,” he pointed out. Wednesday’s economic forum was no less fruitful with 13 deals worth $8.5 billion being sealed between Russian and Chinese enterprises, bringing the total number of agreements signed in two days to 19.But what is most important, Jaibao added, is that “political leadership of the two states has come to a conclusion that Chinese-Russian relations are of a solid, stable and strategic nature”. During his busy day in Moscow, Jiabao also met with the new Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin and invited him to visit Beijing.He underlined the importance of developing the cooperation between the two capitals. “As far as I know, four years ago you visited Beijing. Now the Mayor of Beijing is inviting you to come again in order to strengthen ties,” he said. Sobyanin, for his part, noted that Chinese goods “occupy first place in Russia's trading relations with foreign partners and volume of supplies from China to Moscow grows dynamically every year," cited Itar-Tass.

Natalia Makarova, RT