Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday praised the cooperation between China and Russia and vowed to deepen bilateral relations.
In an interview with Russia's Itar-Tass and Interfax news agencies, Wen said that since China and Russia established strategic partnership 12 years ago, the two countries have developed bilateral relations from a strategic height and with a long-term view and a series of significant achievements have been made.
The two countries have completely resolved the border issue through friendly negotiations and signed the China-Russia Good-neighborly Cooperation Treaty, he said.
They have shown understanding and support to each other on issues concerning the other's core interests and have maintained close communication and coordination on international and regional issues, he said.
Bilateral trade has seen rapid growth in the past 12 years, he said.
The two-way trade volume is expected to exceed 50 billion U.S. dollars this year, and China is confident that the target of 60 billion to 80 billion dollars in bilateral trade by 2010 can be met, he said.
Cultural exchanges have become increasingly closer and the friendship between the two peoples has been continuously deepened, Wen said.
China and Russia held successfully the Russian and Chinese national theme year activities in 2006 and 2007 respectively, which has greatly improved the mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, he noted.
"All these show that the current China-Russia relations are in their best period in history," Wen said.
On the prospects of Sino-Russian relations, Wen said the foundation for bilateral cooperation is solid, and the foundation is the two countries' strategic mutual trust.
The two sides hold identical or similar views strategically, and have common interests on major international and regional issues. Only with such solid foundation can China-Russia relations develop steadily, Wen said.
Secondly, China and Russia have all-round cooperation, covering areas like politics, economy, culture and military affairs, said the premier.
Moreover, China-Russia cooperation is mutually beneficial, which conforms to the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples, and is beneficial to the Asia-Pacific region, the Eurasian region and the entire world, he said.
Wen said China and Russia have conducted comprehensive cooperation in trade and economy, covering such fields as trade and economy, energy, high-tech and financial cooperation.
Cooperation in oil and gas is an important part of China-Russia trade and economic cooperation. The two sides made breakthroughs at the prime ministers' meeting this time in gas and oil cooperation, he said.
It should be emphasized that the China-Russia energy cooperation is on a long-term basis, Wen said.
He said that China and Russia, which share 4,300 km borders, have huge potentials to strengthen their regional cooperation.
Cross-border trade and exchanges not only have boosted bilateral trade and regional development, but promoted the two peoples' mutual understanding and friendship, said Wen.
The two governments should create good conditions for the two countries' regional cooperation including building more roads and bridges between land port cities, create a fair trade order and closely coordinate their regional development strategies, he said.
During his stay in Russia, the Chinese premier held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the 13th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian prime ministers, met with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and parliament leaders, and attended the third Sino-Russian economic and trade forum in Moscow.
Source: Xinhua
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