Putin's visit to consolidate relations

At the invitation of Premier Wen Jiabao, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will pay an official visit to China from October 12-14 and will also attend the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States.

Putin's visit, for the 14th regular prime ministers' meeting between the two countries, is scheduled to implement the agreements reached in June in Russia. And the two parties will also exchange views on bilateral ties as well as on international and regional issues of common concern. Both sides are expected to sign a number of bilateral cooperation documents ranging from energy, mining, power generation to finance and telecommunication.

Prior to Putin's trip, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan is holding the fifth conference of bilateral energy negotiations with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, and the 13th meeting of a joint commission for the regular prime ministers' meeting with his Russian counterpart Alexander Zhukow, in Beijing yesterday and today, respectively. During the same period, State Councilor Liu Yandong will attend the 10th session of a China-Russia committee on humanitarian cooperation with Zhukow in Dalian, Northeast Liaoning province. So "energy dialog" and "humanitarian cooperation" are two important components for the bilateral talks.