The two leaders were scheduled to review the development of Sino-Russian ties after the Sixth Regular Meeting and exchange views on major global and regional issues.

The regular meeting mechanism, initiated in 1996 by Chinese President Jiang Zemin and then Russian President Boris Yeltsin, aims to enable leaders between the two countries to have prompt exchange of views on major issues of common concern.

Russian PM: Russia-China Trade to Hit New High

Bilateral trade between Russia and China was hopeful to reach a new high of more than US$11 billion this year thanks to concerted efforts by both sides, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said in Shanghai Wednesday.

Kasyanov, who arrived here earlier Wednesday on an official visit, told a meeting of Chinese business people that there existed big potentials for China-Russia trade and the two sides should boost bilateral trade with more investment.

He said that bilateral trade had grown rapidly in recent years and could hit a record high this year.

"Russia is now China's eighth largest trade partner while the latter is the former's sixth largest trade partner. Russian investment in China has topped about US$300 million," he said, adding that such momentum "can be maintained".

He attributed the growth to the policy adopted by the Russian and Chinese governments of fully promoting the Russia-China strategic partnership of cooperation and to the efforts made by business circles of the two countries.

He urged both sides to explore new cooperative areas, increase mutual investment and give full play to the potential in economic and trade areas.

Kasyanov briefed the business people on the development of major Sino-Russian cooperative projects in energy, nuclear energy and civil aircraft manufacturing and hoped for more cooperation in infrastructure, mining, forestry, agriculture, telecommunications, home appliance production and other fields.

He also urged Chinese enterprises to pay more attention to the Russian market, improve the image of China-made products and provide more quality commodities to Russian consumers.

Chinese State Councilor Wu Yi and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko were among those present.

(Edited from Xinhua News Agency, August 22, 2002)