Chinese, Russian presidents meet on bilateral ties

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao met his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev here on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations and also regional and international issues of common concern.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the UN climate change summit and other UN meetings.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev  in New York, the United States, on Sept. 23, 2009. (Xinhua/Liu Jiansheng)

Hu said China attaches great importance to enhancing the strategic partnership of cooperation with Russia and is working to implement the consensus reached during his visit to Russia in June.

He said the recently approved cooperation program between northeast China and Russia's far east and east Siberian region is important to boosting cooperation in the border areas of the two countries.

The signing of a memorandum on natural gas cooperation has marked yet another major breakthrough in bilateral energy cooperation, he said.

Hu also expressed his hope that the customs of the two countries would continue working to strengthen customs supervision and facilitate customs clearance to ensure the orderly and healthy growth of bilateral trade.