China and Russia should further cement and deepen the strategic partnership of cooperation, said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday, at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The two countries should place their relationship at a more prominent point in their foreign affairs, Wen said.

Bilateral relations had entered a new phase of development since the two countries set up the strategic partnership of cooperation and signed the Sino-Russian Good Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, Wen noted.

The events of the Year of Russia and the Year of China were the fruits of these relations and reflected the political willingness of Chinese and Russian leaders to promote all-round cooperation. The expectation of the two countries was to promote friendship for future generations, he said.

Wen said the stable and mutually-beneficial economic and trade cooperation between China and Russia fitted the long-term interests of both nations.

The two countries should continue expanding bilateral trade, optimize trade structure, enhance energy cooperation and encourage mutual investment so as to lay a more solid base for the development of bilateral relations, Wen said. .

Putin said Russian-Chinese relations were developing at a high level and the two countries were  creating a sound political environment for the growth of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation.

The bilateral trade exchanges were enjoying rapid growth, Putin said, and called for both countries to continue increasing cooperation in energy, machine engineering, transport, telecommunications, finance, aerospace and environmental protection.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2006)