China-Russia Ties

Chinese, Russian leaders laud friendship treaty

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-17 00:09

MOSCOW - Chinese and Russian leaders on Thursday lauded a 10-year-old friendship treaty between their countries and pledged fresh efforts to further develop bilateral relations.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev issued a joint statement on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, noting that the two countries have seen all-round rapid development of bilateral relations in the past decade.

Cooperation in various fields has reached an unprecedented level since the signing of the treaty, said the statement.

Over the past decade, the two countries have seen frequent high-level exchanges and remarkable enhancement of political mutual trust, the statement said.

Both countries have set as their foreign policy priority the promotion of bilateral ties. They have seen the final settlement of border issues and as a result, the China-Russia border has become a link for peace and all-round cooperation between the two countries, said the statement.

Pragmatic cooperation in economics and trade, investment, finance, energy and science and technology has seen rapid development, it said.

It noted that the social foundation of China-Russia relations has been consolidated remarkably. Activities such as the "China Year in Russia" and "Russia Year in China" and "Chinese Language Year in Russia" and "Russian Language Year in China" have made significant contributions to the development of bilateral humanistic exchanges and the promotion of mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

The signing and implementation of the friendship treaty have international significance, setting a successful example of constructive relations of harmonious co-existence, equality and trust, mutual benefit and win-win between two big nations, the statement said.

Strategic collaboration between China and Russia based on the treaty has become an important factor in international affairs, which is conducive to the establishment of a new just and rational international order as well as the multipolarization of the world and the democratization of international relations, the statement said.

The sustained development of China-Russia ties is in the fundamental interests of the two countries, has brought real benefits to the two peoples and promoted regional and world peace, security and stability, the statement said.

In 2001, then Chinese President Jiang Zemin and then Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the China-Russia Treaty on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation.

The treaty, which draws on the experience in the long-term development of China-Russia relations and follows established principles of international law, has become a basic international legal document governing contemporary relations, the joint statement said.

The model of China-Russia relationship defined by the treaty -- a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership based on equality and mutual trust -- still carries realistic significance today, the statement said.

The following decade offers new opportunities for further development of China-Russian ties, it said.

Following the principles and spirit of the treaty, both sides will continuously dedicate themselves to the development of a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership based on equality, mutual trust, mutual support, common prosperity and lasting friendship, it said.

The statement said China and Russia have decided on the following:

-- to continue to maintain high-level contacts, further promote mutual trust, firmly support each other's chosen paths of development, support each other's efforts to safeguard sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. Both countries will take as foreign policy priority the advancement of bilateral ties.

-- to deepen practical cooperation. Efforts should be made to create the necessary conditions for bilateral trade to reach $100 billion by 2015, and to $200 billion by 2020. China and Russia will improve the investment promotion mechanism and keep expanding mutual investment.

In the energy sector, both countries will promote cooperation in oil, gas, nuclear power, coal, electricity and new energy, and build a strategic and long-term energy partnership based on mutual benefits.

China and Russia will explore new ways of cooperation in science and technology and innovation to ensure all-round cooperation in priority projects of joint basic research and high-tech research as well as in the commercialization and industrialization of scientific research achievements.

Both countries will also expand and deepen region-to-region cooperation.

-- to promote cooperation in education, culture, health, sports, media, tourism, films, archives and youth affairs, so as to promote friendship between the two peoples and to lay a solid social and popular foundation for the further development of China-Russia ties.

-- to expand and deepen military exchanges and cooperation and to promote the traditional friendship between the two militaries.

-- to keep closer coordination on international and regional issues under the tenets and principles of the UN Charter. Both countries will make efforts to strengthen cooperation in multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations and the Group of 20 and to develop cooperative mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS, and China-Russia-India cooperation, in order to maintain regional and international peace, security and stability.