Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Bangguo met in Beijing Tuesday morning with a Russian delegation headed by Viktor Ishayev, governor of Khabarovsk Region of Russia.
During the meeting, Wu said the Sino-Russian strategic cooperative partnership had expanded smoothly in recent years.
A good-neighborly treaty of friendship and cooperation signed by the two sides had laid a foundation for the long-term stable development of relations.
Wu said the development of the Sino-Russian relations had created favorable conditions for developing ties between neighboring provinces and regions of the two countries.
The Chinese central government fully supported the efforts of China's Heilongjiang Province and Khabarovsk Region of Russia in expanding economic cooperation and cultural exchanges, Wu noted.
He hoped that Heilongjiang and Khabarovsk would cooperate further and tap the potential, especially in the field of energy exploration.
Ishayev said Khabarovsk Region's ties with China had become more intimate, in the hope of further cooperation with China in such fields as petroleum, natural gas, coal and timber.
The Russian guests are here at the invitation of the provincial government of Heilongjiang.
(People's Daily June 18, 2002)
