03 December 2002 00:00
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN REMARKS AT PRESS CONFERENCE FOLLOWING RUSSIAN-CHINESE TALKS, BEIJING, CHINA, DECEMBER 2, 2002
Esteemed ladies and gentlemen,
I and my Russian colleagues are very grateful to President of the People's Republic of China Jiang Zemin for the invitation to again visit Beijing. And, I wish to thank our Chinese friends for the very warm welcome accorded to the Russian delegation.
Today's talks were very substantial and productive.
The situation in our countries, in the world, is developing very dynamically and we have to take into account the changes involved. We not only have summed up the results of the development of bilateral ties in the last few years, but also have stated that we have now reached an entirely different qualitative level. Not only have we surmounted our differences in these years; we have become truly strategic partners and mapped out the prospects for the development of our relations.
That approach also completely meets the spirit of the Russian-Chinese Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, signed a year ago.
Today we discussed practical questions relating to the development of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership and exchanged views on key issues in international politics.
We discussed the mechanisms for ensuring global and regional stability, with special emphasis on the questions of cooperation between Russia and China in the struggle against international terrorism.
We spoke of the work of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. We believe that the growth of the SCO's role in ensuring security and deepening economic integration in Eurasia is in the interests of not only member countries, but also of this whole vast region.
Our positions on these and other agenda issues are reflected in the just signed Joint Declaration "Russia and China in the Modern World."
In the course of the meeting we, of course, thoroughly discussed the range of bilateral ties and one priority is the consistent promotion of trade and economic cooperation. The priorities here are to develop our collaboration in the energy field and to increase the share of high-technology products in the total volume of trade turnover.
There are on the economic agenda of the two countries the introduction of new forms of collaboration and, above all, such as investment and production cooperation.
Now that economic cooperation between Russia and China has been vigorously developing and enters a new stage of development - the stage of implementation of large joint projects - we need, of course, a constant exchange of operational and qualitative information.
In this connection I want to note that we attach great importance to the Interfax China project, which is being carried out in the People's Republic of China by one of the nationally best known independent news agencies in Russia.
I am convinced that new possibilities are currently opening up in the humanitarian area as well. A considerable positive experience has been amassed here, including within the framework of the public Russian-Chinese Committee of Peace, Friendship and Development.
Esteemed ladies and gentlemen,
Only recently the Sixteenth Congress of the Communist Party of China concluded its work. It constituted a landmark event in the life of our neighbor, and mapped out extensive plans for the development of the state. And we sincerely wish our Chinese partners successful implementation of these plans.
I am absolutely convinced that development of our partnership and the continuity of its best traditions will also in the new century serve the interests of the peoples of both Russia and China.
Thank you.
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Question (ITAR-TASS News Agency): This question is for both leaders. Please say what place do you allot to Russia and China in the world that is now forming after the Cold War?
President Putin: As you know, Russia and China stand for the formation of a multipolar world, for the development of democratic principles in the new architecture of international relations and for strengthening the legal base of international cooperation and the main institutions of international coordination, of which the most important one is the United Nations.
International relations must be stable and predictable, and ensure ongoing development in the solution of the tasks which are set by the states participants in international intercourse.
We are absolutely convinced that the special strategic relations between Russia and China will meet these tasks, will help to solve the problems not only facing Russia and China, but also will create a climate of stability in the world. And, we believe that this is a very important factor in international life and intend to strengthen the strategic partnership between Russia and China.
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