Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday accepted the credential by Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Deguang and appreciated the Sino-Russian relation as in its best stage.
Meeting with the new Chinese ambassador in the Kremlin, Putin highly valued his friendship with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
Putin said the Russian-Chinese relationship has entered the best and the most effective period in history, which is enjoying sound development in all fields.
He mentioned a good-neighborly treaty of friendship and cooperation signed recently by the two countries, stressing the treaty has laid reliable legal foundation for the development of bilateral relations in the 21st century.
The treaty, signed in Moscow in July during Jiang's latest Moscow trip, summed up the preferential interests of the two nations and has become the guidelines for long-term cooperation, he added.
Talking about the upcoming Moscow visit by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, Putin said he attaches great importance to the visit and that he is looking forward to meeting with Zhu.
Zhang said that President Jiang cherished very much his personal friendship and good working relations with Putin and were looking forward to meeting him again at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation informal summit in Shanghai, China in October.
(Xinhua News Agency 08/28/2001)
