Chinese, Russian leaders hail 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties

BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday sent congratulatory messages to each other to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.

In the message, Hu said the Sino-Russian relationship has witnessed unusual events in the past 60 years, and has become a new type of bilateral relationship that suits the trend of the era. Political mutual trust, pragmatic cooperation, cultural exchanges and cooperation on international and regional affairs have been strengthened.

The development of bilateral ties has not only brought actual benefits to the Chinese and Russian peoples, but also promoted peace, stability and development in the region and the world, Hu said.

China is willing to further promote the comprehensive, wide-ranging and multi-level exchanges and cooperation with Russia, to push bilateral good-neighborly strategic collaboration to a higher level, and to strive to maintain world peace and promote common development, he said.

Medvedev said today we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and China as well as the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Both important events started a new era in history and fundamentally influenced the order of the modern world, he said.

China is now an influential power in the world, and has contributed greatly to the world's stability, he said.

The traditional good-neighborly friendship between the two peoples has stood the test of time. The current Russia-China strategic cooperative partnership has reached an unprecedented high level, Medvedev said.

He said he is confident that the bilateral relations between the two nations will become more stable and prosperous in the future.