Chinese vice premier urges deepening China-Russia partnership

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Monday called for the consolidation of the friendship between China and Russia, and for further growth in the bilateral all-round strategic cooperative partnership. Li made the remarks to participants in the ninth plenary meeting of the China-Russia Friendship Committee for Peace and Development (CRFCPD), scheduled for Tuesday in Beijing. This year is the 10th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation. Li hailed the sound momentum of bilateral ties under the guidance of the treaty, calling on joint efforts from both countries to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and strategic coordination, to benefit the two peoples and contribute to world peace, development and stability. During Chinese President Hu Jintao's successful visit to Russia in June this year, the two heads of state set goals for the development of bilateral relations in the next decade, and ushered China-Russia ties into a new stage of development, Li said. The CRFCPD, founded in 1997, has served as a major channel for people-to-people exchanges between China and Russia, said Li, adding it made a unique contribution to the growth of the two countries' relations. He called on the committee to consolidate the social foundation and public opinion base for China-Russia friendship, and initiate a new phase for bilateral people-to-people exchanges. Li suggested the committee further boost the China-Russia all-round strategic cooperative partnership and give priority to enhancing bilateral ties no matter how the domestic and global situations change. He also proposed creating more platforms for friendly exchanges and dialogues among people of various circles of society, drawing young people to the cause of boosting bilateral friendship, and promoting China-Russia exchanges and cooperation in various areas. The Chinese Chairman of the committee, Hua Jianmin, and the Russian Chairman, Leonid Drachevsky, together with some 50 Chinese specialists and officials in several fields, attended the meeting. The CRFCPD was established in 1997 under the proposal of the two countries' presidents, with the aim of deepening understanding and friendship, and promoting neighborly cooperation between China and Russia.