Li Peng, Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), met Wednesday with a Russian delegation led by Vladimir Platonov, vice chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
The two sides highly praised the Sino-Russian Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed in July by the two heads of state and the achievements made by the prime ministers of the two countries in their meeting not long ago.
When talking about economic development and environment protection, Li Peng said that China has clearly put forward its strategy of sustainable development in its 10th Five-Year Plan ( 2001-2005). Since the founding of New China, and especially in the past 20 years of opening up and reform, China's economy has developed rapidly, which has unavoidably brought damage to the environment.
By the end of the 20th century, he said, China began to produce surplus grain, and the focus was shifted to agricultural restructuring. Some cultivated land will be restored to forests and grassland in an effort to repair the environment, and more attention will be paid to the quality in stead of the quantity of grain production.
He said that China is also adopting measures to control air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, solid waste discharges and other environmental problems. So far China has basically established a complete set of laws concerning environmental protection.
Platonov said that bilateral exchanges have obviously increased in recent years. Issues of common interest are being discussed at the on-going China-Russia Seminar on Economy and Ecology, which represents good bilateral cooperation. He expressed the hope that such cooperation be further reinforced.
Both sides expressed satisfaction over the good cooperative relationship between the NPC and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. They also exchanged views on cooperative issues in the economic and environment protection fields.
The Russian delegation is here attending the China-Russia Seminar on Economy and Ecology at the invitation of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
(People’s Daily 09/20/2001)
