Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said the two countries need to strengthen their friendly ties and expand areas of cooperation based on current achievements so as to enter a new era of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation.
At a joint press conference held on Tuesday after talks with Putin and the signing of a joint statement, Hu Jintao said the new Chinese central leadership attaches great importance to Sino-Russian relations, and the priority of Chinese foreign policy will be given to strengthen the strategic partnership of cooperation between the two sides.
The two leaders expressed their shared confidence that annual trade volume between China and Russia will rise from the current 12 billion US dollars to 20 billion dollars in the near future.
Putin said if the two sides want to see a stable and predictable world, they should try to establish a multipolar world, which takes into account the interests of every member of the international community and is based on clear and widely accepted international principles.
Speaking on the new international political and economic order, Hu Jintao said such an order should be one that can bring peace and common prosperity to the world and can benefit people of different countries, nationalities and race.
Hu Jintao noted Russia and China share many similar and even same stands on establishing a new international political and economic order, and the issue is also part of the strategic partnership of cooperation between the two nations.
(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2003)
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