On July 13, 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Moscow.
A "very high degree of trust" has been built between the two countries, Putin said. The successful theme years of Russia and China have brought along exchanges in all areas and at all levels, he said. The economic and trade cooperation is moving faster, Putin said, adding that bilateral border trade has become more active with the trade structure improving. Both sides have maintained close cooperation and thus played a positive, important role in international and regional affairs. The Russian president said he attached great importance to ties with China, adding that he is looking forward to a meeting with the Chinese president at the next summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) due in August, so that both sides can exchange views on deepening bilateral strategic cooperation in politics, economy, trade, security, as well as international and regional affairs.
Yang said the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation has improved greatly in recent years. The strategic initiative of the heads of state of Russia and China to hold the theme years has helped promote bilateral relations, he said. The trade volume continues to grow rapidly and Russia has increased export of machinery and electronic products to China with the crude oil pipeline project progressing smoothly. He said both sides are striving to promote multilateralism and democracy of international relations. The two countries are exchanging frequently with each other on major international and regional issues and have become significant factors for sustaining international strategic balance and stability, he added.
Yang pointed out that President Hu Jintao and President Putin have reached important consensus on the principles and directions for the development of Sino-Russian relations. China will as always take Sino-Russian ties as a top priority and make joint efforts with Russia to push for all-round, in-depth development of Sino-Russian strategic cooperation. Yang also pledged to work with the Russian side to prepare for the upcoming meeting between the two heads of state.
