During his eight-year presidency from 1991 to 1999, Boris Yeltsin helped upgrade the definition of the China-Russia relationship three times. His death on April 23 therefore came as a sad loss for both countries.

Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a message to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin the day after Yeltsin’s passing, saying the outstanding contributions the former Russian president made to the development of Sino-Russian friendship and relations will go down in the annals of history. Vice Premier Wu Yi was dispatched to the Russian Embassy in Beijing to offer condolences.

In China, the controversial Russian leader responsible for the final collapse of the Soviet Union will mainly be remembered as a close friend of the Chinese. Politicians, media outlets and experts of international studies have hailed his contributions to the notable improvement of relations between China and Russia.

The official newspaper People’s Daily published an article entitled, “Yeltsin: A Close Friend of the Chinese People,” summarizing how he helped improve bilateral relations.

“As the first Russian president, Yeltsin contributed greatly to the sound and steady development of bilateral relations between China and Russia, and was one of the advocators and founders of the China-Russia strategic cooperative partnership,” the article said.

It noted that Yeltsin attached great importance to Russia’s relationship with China. He paid four visits to China as Russian president and continued to push bilateral ties to new heights together with Chinese leaders.

During his first official visit to China in December 1992, China and Russia announced that they regarded each other as “friendly countries.” In September 1994, the presidents of the two countries declared in Moscow that China and Russia “had already formed a new constructive partnership.” In April 1996 when Yeltsin visited China again, the two countries pledged that they would build a “strategic cooperative partnership toward the 21st century based on equality and trust” in a joint statement.

“As their friendly cooperation makes rapid strides, China and Russia have set an example for major countries and neighboring countries to follow while dealing with their relations,” the article commented.

People’s Daily further noted that Yeltsin promoted comprehensive China-Russia cooperation. Having much to offer each other, the two countries made breakthroughs in the fields of business and trade. In April 1997, the China-Russia Friendship, Peace and Development Commission was established. The commission played an important role in deepening the traditional friendship, as well as building understanding and trust between the two peoples-especially between young people. Cooperation also expanded rapidly in the military, security, scientific, technological and cultural fields.

China and Russia settled old border disputes during Yeltsin’s presidency. An agreement on the western section of the boundary was signed in April 1994, fixing 98 percent of the alignment of the boundary between China and Russia. In 2004, a protocol on the alignment of the eastern section of the boundary was signed, turning the 4,300-km borderline into “a bond of peace and friendship,” according to the article.

Yeltsin also worked to foster the development of the “Shanghai Five” mechanism. The mechanism initially concentrated on resolving border disputes, building military trust and promoting good neighborliness. Later, the focus shifted to the downsizing of border troop levels, regional security and joint crackdowns on terrorism, extremism and separatism and further collaboration in diplomatic, economic and cultural fields. Based on this mechanism, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization came into being in 2001. The organization has become an important international organization for safeguarding regional security and stability and for promoting common development and prosperity in the member states.

Wang Lijiu, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, believes Yeltsin was an important figure in the history of China-Russia relations. After Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, paid a visit to China in 1989, bilateral relations began to warm up, he said. But it wasn’t until Yeltsin took over the presidency of the Russian Federation that relations were finally put on the right track, he said. Recent years have witnessed stable development of China-Russia relations thanks to Yeltsin, according to Wang. In his view, Putin’s friendly policy toward China is built upon Yeltsin’s legacy.

Zhao Huasheng, Director of the Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, noted that as Russia took a different political path from China, the development of bilateral relations largely hinged on Yeltsin’s political will. However, despite changes in the international situation and resistance at home, Yeltsin’s friendly policy toward China never vacillated. By taking into consideration the fundamental interests of the two countries, Zhao noted, Yeltsin sought to nurture bilateral strategic relations to transcend ideological differences-something that is crucial to the long-term development of China-Russia relations.