Putin's China visit eyes further cooperation

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's upcoming official visit to China this week is expected to push the cooperation between the two countries to a new high.

Prior to his two-day trip to China starting on Tuesday, Putin said the two countries "have enjoyed an unparalleled partnership" and that he believed the upcoming meetings with the Chinese leaders will see "a positive development" in bilateral relations.

In recent years, the two countries have made remarkable achievements in bilateral ties.

Political mutual trust between China and Russia has been growing steadily, as the two countries have witnessed frequent contacts between their top leaders.

Chinese President Hu Jintao paid a state visit to Russia in June and marked together with Russian leaders the 10th anniversary of the China-Russia Treaty on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation.

During the visit, Hu and his Russian colleagues reached consensus on the future development of bilateral ties in the next decade and signed a joint statement on the current international situation and on major international issues, which would also help the international community to meet global challenges.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, the two sides have supported each other in the international arena, as the two have carried out close coordination and jointly coped with new changes in the international situation to safeguard their common interests and promote the democratization of international relations.

Leaders of the two countries have also concerted their efforts on promoting bilateral cooperation, as a number of large projects in energy, science and military technology are being conducted.

Trade between the two countries has recovered from the global financial crisis and rebounded to a pre-crisis level. Bilateral trade volume in the first half of this year stood at 35.9 billion U.S. dollars, a 39.6-percent hike compared with last year.

According to a forecast from China's Ministry of Commerce, bilateral trade volume is expected to exceed 70 billion dollars in 2011, setting a new record.

Both China and Russia have also agreed to make efforts to meet the target of bilateral trade volume reaching 100 billion dollars by 2015, and to 200 billion by 2020.

Along with the developments in political and economic and trade spheres, cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have also maintained a sound momentum.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong, people-to-people communication and non-governmental activities have developed robustly in recent years.

"The concept of friendship for generations to come has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the two peoples, laying a more solid social foundation for China-Russia ties," he said.

Last year, more than 2.37 million Russians toured China, up 36 percent compared with 2009. Russia is currently the third largest tourist source country of China.

The reciprocal "Tourism Year" to be respectively held in Russia in 2012 and in China in 2013 will also help the two peoples understand each other better.

Leaders of both countries have stressed that the relations between China and Russia are becoming a model on bilateral relationship of the world's big powers. And local analysts believed that further development of the Sino-Russian ties would also promote the development of the world's peace and stability.