By Liao Lei
MOSCOW, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is scheduled to pay his first foreign visit to Kazakhstan and China this week. As China is destined to be the first non-Commonwealth of Independent States member country of Medvedev's first tour abroad since he was sworn in on May 7, the visit will mark the importance attached by the two countries to their strategic partnership of cooperation.
BOOMING BILATERAL COOPERATION
During the presidency of Vladimir Putin, Medvedev's predecessor, Chinese-Russian relations were promoted to a historical high.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and Putin met five times last year and laid out the blueprint for the development of the strategic partnership of cooperation in the second decade after its birth.
The heads of government and parliament speakers have also frequently exchanged visits, which facilitate the strengthening of mutual trust and bilateral cooperation, observers say.
In the economic sphere, bilateral trade volume surged from 10.67 billion U.S. dollars in 2000 to 33.39 billion dollars in 2006 and 48.17 billion dollars last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce of China.
The soaring economic figures were also accompanied by an optimized trade structure, booming two-way investment and flourishing cooperation in the border regions, analysts said.
Meanwhile, the two neighboring states hosted theme years for each other in a bid to consolidate bilateral ties, including the Year of Russia in China in 2006 and the Year of China in Russia in2007.
Such theme events promoted substantial cooperation in such fields as trade, investment, energy, culture, education, healthcare, sports, tourism and media.
Medvedev, then first deputy prime minister and Russia's chairman of the theme years' organizing committee, said that such activities were pioneer projects and had yielded remarkable achievements.
Hearing the news on the May 12 deadly earthquake in China's southwestern region that has claimed more than 32,000 lives, Medvedev sent a letter of solace on the same day to the Chinese president, which was followed by four batches of humanitarian aid and rescue teams to the disaster-hit region.
ENHANCED MULTILATERAL COOPERATION
China and Russia have hailed their coordination and mutual support on an array of international issues such as preserving the authority of the United Nations (UN), countering hegemonism and settling conflicts in hot spots of the world arena.
In a joint statement inked by Hu and Putin in 2007, China and Russia said such cooperation on the global stage has maintained the world's strategic balance, peace and stability.
As both are permanent members of the UN Security Council and nuclear powers, China and Russia have played important roles in seeking solutions to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and Iran's nuclear program.
They are both mediators in the six-party talks on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and international talks concerning Iran.
As both are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, China and Russia have actively cooperated in maintaining regional peace and security, fighting against the three evil forces of terrorism, extremism and separatism, cracking down on drugs and arms trafficking and boosting regional economic cooperation.
BOOSTING TIES IN MEDVEDEV'S TERM
"Developing the strategic partnership between the two countries conforms to the fundamental interests of both nations, and is also important to safeguarding peace and security of the region and the world at large, and promoting common development and prosperity," Hu said in a message to Medvedev upon the latter's inauguration on May 7.
Hu expressed confidence that Russia will score new achievements in its development under Medvedev's leadership.
The Chinese president also said that it is a shared responsibility of China and Russia to ensure the steady and healthy development of their strategic partnership of cooperation.
Hu said he was ready to work with Medvedev to deepen mutual political trust between the two countries, promote pragmatic cooperation and strengthen coordination in international and regional affairs.
Medvedev, in response, spoke highly of the Russia-China strategic partnership of cooperation, saying the Russian-Chinese ties have been serving as an important factor in the world arena and to develop the partnership is the sole direction of Russia's policy to China.
Political observers believe that under the leadership of Medvedev and support from Putin, who is now Russia's prime minister, the strategic partnership of cooperation between Moscow and
Beijing will be further strengthened.
Editor: Mo Hong'e
