Chinese president pledges to further promote Sino-Russian ties
( 2003-05-28 16:15 ) (8)

Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday pledged greater efforts to develop long-term good- neighborly relations and promote cooperation of mutual benefit between his country and Russia.

Addressing the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Hu said the Sino-Russian relations have maintained good momentum in development through the two countries' joint efforts over the past decade.

"The Russia-China Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, signed in 2001, has ushered in a new era of strategic partnership of cooperation between the two countries and will serve as the guideline for the development of bilateral ties in the new century," Hu said.

Developing long-term good-neighborly relations and promoting cooperation of mutual benefit in accordance with the spirit and principles of the treaty, he said, are in the vital interests of both countries and peoples and conform to the trend of peace and development.

"China and Russia have benefited from the smooth development of bilateral ties by successfully resolving the border issues left over from history and by increasing their trade volume from 6 billion US dollars in the 1990s to 12 billion dollars last year," Hu noted.

He stressed that China has been consistently following an independent foreign policy of peace and is ready to carry out friendly exchanges and cooperation with the peoples of all countries in the world in all fields. Even when it becomes strong and prosperous in the future, China will never seek hegemony and military expansion, he said. Instead, he pointed out, the country will forever serve as a staunch force for maintaining world peace and promoting common development.

The Chinese president, who arrived here on Monday for a three- day state visit to Russia, pointed out that China has joined efforts with the other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in promoting regional cooperation and cracking down on ethnic separatism, religious extremism and international terrorism.

The Sino-Russian ties is of special importance in China's foreign relations. The new Chinese leadership, which attaches great importance to the Sino-Russian relations, is willing to cooperate with the Russian side in fully implementing the Russia- China Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and promoting the all-round strategic partnership of cooperation in political, economic, scientific, cultural and other fields, he said.

To ensure long-term good-neighborly relations and achieve common development, the Chinese president proposed the following measures of cooperation between China and Russia"-- Strengthening mutual support and deepening mutual trust;

-- Broadening cooperation of mutual benefit and achieving a win- win situation;

-- Expanding friendly exchanges and developing traditional friendship;

--Increasing consultations and coordination and promoting peaceful development.

China confident of winning war against SARS

Hu said that China is confident of winning the war against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) while maintaining the pace of economic development.

Hu said the Chinese government and people are making great efforts in fighting SARS and have achieved noticeable progress.

He said China has taken strict measures to prevent SARS from spreading in and out of China.

He added that China will continuously strengthen cooperation with the international community and contribute to the war of mankind against the disease.

Hu stressed that although SARS has made a certain negative impact on the development of some regions and industries in China, the momentum of the country's economic development however remains strong.

Hu expressed his confidence that China will overcome the temporary difficulties and win the war against SARS while maintaining the pace of economic development and continuing to contribute to the promotion of regional and global economic growth.

On the Sino-Russian relations, Hu recalled that during China's protracted Liberation War in the 1940s and the economic development in the early days of the People's Republic of China, the Russian people provided the Chinese people with support and aid in many ways. And the Chinese people will never forget this.

As regards to the present situation in China, Hu said the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held last November set the goal of China's development for the new phase in the new century. China's 10th National People's Congress held in March further worked out the plan for the country's future development.

The Chinese president said China, as a developing country, is facing many urgent and tough problems on its way of development. China's modernization is an arduous task and may take many years to achieve. Therefore, it requires long-term and strenuous efforts.

The development of China is of fundamental interests to the Chinese people and is also closely related to world peace and development, Hu said. The prosperity of China will contribute to regional and world peace, stability and development, he added.

The Chinese president arrived here on Monday for a three-day state visit to Russia.