China, Russia pledge to strengthen ties

cctv.com 10-15-2004 13:35

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday began his three-day state visit to China. A joint statement was issued highlighting Sino-Russia economic and trade cooperation, especially in energy and investment.

Putin is the second European leader to visit China in a week after French President Jacques Chirac last weekend sealed nearly 5 billion US dollars worth of deals.

Sino-Russian economic and trade cooperation has witnessed solid growth and the goal for an annual trade volume of 20 billion US dollars could very possibly be achieved this year.

The two countries will expand their trade in electronic and machinery products, improve the procedures for economic and trade cooperation and investment, focus on large cooperation projects and seek substantial progress in energy cooperation.

Energy cooperation is an important part of Sino-Russian relations. In the statement, the two sides pledged to further strengthen cooperation in such sectors as oil and rail transportation. Russia's Ambassador to China, Igor Rogachev, says a pipeline supplying oil from Russia to China will be finalized in the next few months. The new pipeline deal will cover the development needs of Russia in the Far East, as well as the interests of Russia's friendly neighbor, China.

The two sides hold common ideas on investment. China is studying the possibility of building a large pulp mill in Russia's Far East and intends to invest about 36 million US dollars in the project. Plans to build Chinese business centers and Chinatowns in Moscow and St Petersburg are also in the works.

The statement said the two countries would adopt effective measures, formulate a medium- and long-term blueprint for all-around cooperation and optimize trade components.

Editor:Chen  Source:CCTV.com