Visiting President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart
Vladimir Putin vowed Tuesday to expand cooperation in trade,
economic, social and cultural fields.
The two leaders made the pledge at the opening ceremony of a
four-day Chinese national exhibition in Russia Tuesday morning.
It is the largest overseas comprehensive exhibition by China in
almost three decades and one of the around 200 events planned for
the ongoing "Year of China" in Russia.
The two presidents visited the exhibition, which covers more
than 20,000 square meters and showcases some 15,000 products from
30 industries such as energy, machinery, automobile and home
appliances.
Hu called on the two countries to explore new fields for growth
in trade and economy, enlarge its scale and improve efficiency, so
as to push the China-Russia strategic partnership of cooperation to
a new high.
Russia regarded China as "a major economic partner," Putin said,
adding that the exhibition would help the Russians know the
industrial and technological progress China has made in its reform
and opening-up drive.
Putin hailed the growing Russia-China trade and economic ties,
saying bilateral trade turnover has increased five-fold since 2000
to more than US$30 billion.
China-Russia trade has witnessed rapid growth for eight
consecutive years, reaching US$33.4 billion in 2006. It is expected
to reach US$60 billion to US$80 billion by 2010, according to
official statistics.
Chinese enterprises were expected to sign four contracts worth
over US$500 million to buy machinery and electrical products from
Russia at the exhibition, as well as another six contracts to
supply machinery and electrical products worth US$1.128 billion to
Russia.
Official statistics show the China-Russia bilateral trade
turnover of machinery and electrical products stood at US$5.85
billion last year, of which US$247 million was exports from Russia.
Overall, Russia mainly delivered oil, petrochemicals and timber to
China.
(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2007)
