- Relations between giant neighbors China
and Russia have reached an unprecedented high, China's president said in
comments published on Wednesday ahead of a regional security forum summit,
the Reuters news agency reported.
-
- President Hu Jintao also called Russia
China's most important strategic cooperation partner in an interview with
journalists from member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,
which groups the two with the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
-
- "Relations between the two countries
have reached unprecedented levels," Hu said, in comments that were
carried on the Foreign Ministry's website (www.fmprc.gov.cn). "The
volume of bilateral trade has had seven years of extremely high growth
and cooperation in the fields of energy and investment has made great progress,"
he said.
-
- Ties between the two, for years Cold
War foes, have been growing, as China seeks to tap Russia's oil and gas
resources to fuel its booming economy and with the two countries sharing
common views on how the dispute over Iran's nuclear program should be resolved.
-
- Trade between China and Russia, who share
a 4,300-km (2,700-mile) border, reached nearly $30 billion last year, and
the two signed a series of energy agreements during a visit by President
Vladimir Putin in March.
-
- Beijing and Moscow also see common ground
in trying to ensure stability in Central Asia and in checking theU.S. presence
there.
-
- Hu Jintao said fighting the threats of
terrorism, separatism and extremism were the main goals of the SCO, whose
annual summit will be held on June 15 in Shanghai. Its members have signed
an anti-drug-trafficking agreement and are considering extending the accord
to include Afghanistan, whose President Hamid Karzai has been invited to
attend the forum as its guest.
-
- China is also offering SCO member states
$900 million worth of loans in the form of preferential buyers credit for
members who buy Chinese exports, Hu said.
-
- In addition to the six members of the
regional group, observer states Mongolia, Pakistan, India and Iran have
also been invited to attend.
-
-
- http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/05/31/chinaties.shtml
|
