The Chinese government attached great importance to Sino-Russian
relations and it was China's established guideline to strengthen
the Sino-Russian strategic cooperative partnership, Chinese
President Hu
Jintao said on Friday in Beijing.
Hu made the remarks while talking with his Russian counterpart
Vladimir Putin over phone Friday evening.
Putin praised the development of Russia-China ties and
achievements, and briefed Hu on Russia's plan for high-level
bilateral meetings next year.
The recent meeting on bilateral military technological
cooperation held in Moscow decided some priority cooperative
projects, and such a move would be of great significance for
advancing the relations of the two countries, Putin said.
Hu agreed with the Russian plan on high-level meetings, saying
that the two sides had strengthened mutual trust, economic and
trade cooperation and international coordination, expressing the
hope that the strategic cooperative partnership would continue to
grow.
He noted that the recent meeting on military technological
cooperation had summarized the progress of bilateral military
cooperation.
As a cornerstone of the two countries' strategic cooperative
partnership, military cooperation was conducive to foster
international and regional peace and stability, Hu said.
The two presidents also exchanged views on the Iraq situation,
the Korean nuclear issue and other issues of common concern.
(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2003)