2010-04-16 05:38

BRASILIA: Chinese President Hu Jintao met his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev Thursday in Brasilia to discuss bilateral ties and other important issues of common concern.

It was the first meeting between the two leaders since they met on the sidelines of the Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Singapore last November.

Hu and Medvedev were meeting on the sidelines of a summit of BRIC nations, namely Brazil, Russia, India and China.

At the BRIC summit slated for Thursday, leaders of China, Brazil, Russia and India will discuss the global economy and financial situation, reform of the international financial system, climate change and cooperation among the four countries.

In recent years, China and Russia have strengthened their strategic cooperative partnership with enhanced mutual political trust, and fruitful cooperation in all sectors. The countries also have had close interaction and coordination in dealing with international and regional affairs.

Last year witnessed the celebration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Russia, as well as the hosting of the "Year of Russian language" in China, which brought about new breakthroughs in the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation.

Despite some impact on bilateral trade by the global economic crisis, the quality of bilateral economic cooperation between China and Russia has improved, with trade structure optimized and significant progress achieved in energy sector cooperation.

"Relationship with Russia is one of the priorities of China's diplomacy. The two countries have enjoyed mutual support on issues that concern each other's core interests," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said at a press conference on March 7.

Last year, the two countries signed a series of important cooperation agreements covering oil, natural gas, coal, electricity, nuclear energy and high-speed rail, said Yang, adding that the relevant cooperation projects are now well underway.

"We expect the China-Russia oil pipeline project to be completed by the end of this year and the pipeline will enter into operation next year. Moreover, the two countries are also committed to promoting cooperation between China's northeast region and Russia's Far East and eastern Siberia region," the minister said.