Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov arrived in Beijing Thursday morning, starting a two-day official visit at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

During his stay here, Fradkov will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and top legislator Wu Bangguo, respectively. Fradkov and Premier Wen Jiabao will both attend the 11th regular meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries, and activities celebrating the closing ceremony of the "Year of Russia" in China.

Before the prime minister's regular meeting, Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov co-chaired the 10th meeting of the committee for regular meeting of prime ministers of the two countries on November 7.

In addition, Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili and Zhukov co-chaired the 7th Session of the China-Russia Cooperation Committee on Education, Culture, Health and Sports on November 6.

China and Russia will hold a closing ceremony for the "Year of Russia" in China in Beijing on Thursday evening. Both Wen and Fradkov will attend the closing ceremony and deliver speeches. Following the ceremony, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra from Russia will entertain the audience.

A series of activities including the National Exhibition on Russia and the Sino-Russian Investment Promotion Week will also be held during the prime minister's visit.

The two sides will sum up the outcome of the "Year of Russia", and outline activities for the coming "Year of China" in Russia.

More than 200 activities were held during the "Year of Russia", which help strengthen the traditional friendship between the two countries and push forward the China-Russia strategic partnership.

(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2006)