President Hu Jintao met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Busan, South Korea yesterday, and the two leaders exchanged in-depth views on bilateral relations and other issues of common concern.

 

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 13th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting.

 

Both China and Russia are members of the APEC forum.

 

During the meeting, Hu said that this year witnessed fruitful achievements in the development of strategic partnership of coordination between China and Russia and that China is satisfied with the results achieved in bilateral cooperation in various areas, said sources from the Chinese delegation.

 

 

"We signed the Joint Statement on the International Order of the 21st Century, which comprehensively expounds the common stance of China and Russia on major international issues," said Hu.

 

The two countries also successfully conducted the first joint military maneuver and launched the consultation mechanism on strategic security and the cooperation between their legislative bodies, he added.

 

The 10th regular meeting between the two countries' heads of government has also achieved fruitful results, he said.

 

"China attaches importance to Sino-Russian ties and stands ready to make joint efforts with Russia to push China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination to a new level," said Hu.

 

China also attaches importance to expanding economic cooperation and trade with Russia, and stands ready to adopt measures to increase imports from Russia and deepen cooperation in energy, electromechanical and infrastructure construction, so as to achieve a win-win result based on mutual benefit, he said.

 

China attaches importance to the "Russia Year" activities to be held in China and the "China Year" in Russia, he said.

 

For his part, Putin said the achievements of cooperation in various fields between Russia and China demonstrate both sides' strong aspiration for promoting bilateral friendly ties.

 

Russia believes that constantly develop Russia-China strategic partnership of coordination conforms to the interests of both peoples, he added.

 

Russia always takes positive attitude toward energy cooperation with China and will make joint efforts to push forward the cooperation and achieve new results, he noted.

 

Russia stands ready to prepare the "Russia Year" in China in 2006, and the "China Year" to be held in Russia in 2007, said Putin. "Such move will contribute to enhancing mutual understanding and trust, and strengthening bilateral cooperation and friendship."

 

The two heads of state also expressed support to increasing contacts in border areas, coordinating their regional development strategies, and encouraging people in the border areas to conduct communications and mutually beneficial cooperation in various forms.

 

The two presidents also exchanged views on regional situation and agreed to join other countries to maintain regional peace and stability.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2005)