Ivanov made the remarks in a written reply to questions raised by Xinhua, which was released here on Sunday.

The key treaty will serve as a reliable guarantee for deepening and expanding the friendship and cooperation between the two countries and their people in various fields, Ivanov said in the written reply.

For instance, he said, the articles on the territory issues written into the document reiterates the principles of no mutual incursion into territories or destruction of territorial integrity of the other side. That will contribute to bringing peace and welfare to the two nations' offspring, he stressed.

Both sides have expressed the wish to "conclude the past and orient toward the future," Ivanov noted.

"I believe that both sides have firm political wish and wisdom to find constructive, mutually accepted, best ways to solve possible problems between the two countries with taking into account mutual legal interests," he said.

The Russian-Chinese relations have developed to an unprecedented high level, he said, President Jiang Zemin's visit will prove once more the depth and extent of bilateral cooperation, he said.

"Establishing a good partnership with China is the unique and best option for Russia. This is what the history has told us," he emphasized.

Thanks to the common and continuous efforts by the two countries' leaders, the two sides have made a lot of achievements in developing Russia-China ties over the past 10 years. One of them is the deep mutual trust and understanding reached between the two states, as they enjoy broad coherence in their fundamental interests, Ivanov said.

Meanwhile, bilateral trade-economic ties are also developing vigorously. Last year, the trade volume between the two countries hit a record high of 8 billion U.S. dollars, up 40 percent from the previous year.

This year, the trade volume will surpass 10 billion dollars, which is an inevitable result of the full-scale development of bilateral ties, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency 07/16/2001)