In addition, both sides held over 200 activities in the Year of the Russian Language in China this year. Through these exchanges, trust between the two countries—especially young people—has greatly improved.

In recent years, China and Russia have engaged in growing cooperation in regional and world affairs as well through powerful platforms such as the UN Security Council, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the G20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

The SCO—a regional organization formally established in 2001 that groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan—offers a prime example. These days, the SCO has evolved into an important organization that helps promote political, economic, security, cultural and social cooperation between countries in the region.

As founders of the organization, China and Russia are playing irreplaceable guiding roles in the SCO—and the international community is paying close attention to it. As such, China and Russia have kept making considerable contributions to international efforts to address hotspot issues like nuclear proliferation in Iran and on the Korean Peninsula.

Common Understanding

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reached a series of common understandings on promoting bilateral cooperation during the 14th regular prime ministers' talks between China and Russia in Beijing on October 13. Their common understandings include:

First, enhance political trust, address each other's core interests and major concerns, and support each other's measures to safeguard state sovereignty, security and territorial integrity so as to consolidate the political foundation of bilateral ties.

Second, deepen economic and trade cooperation. Both sides agreed to do a good job in building large cooperation projects and develop innovative cooperation models; further expand trade on machinery and electronic products and optimize the trade mix; regulate the market order; enhance financial cooperation and expand domestic currency settlements; increase mutual investment and economic and technological cooperation; and promote trade facilitation and oppose trade and investment protectionism.

Third, expand energy cooperation. They agreed to implement China-Russia inter-governmental agreements on oil cooperation and deepen upstream-downstream integration cooperation in the oil sector. They agreed to work together to make sure the oil pipeline, running from Skovorodino, Russia, to China's northeastern city of Daqing, would be completed by the end of 2010 and start stable oil supply in 2011. Both sides also pledged to increase crude oil trade via railway. They signed a road map on gas cooperation and decided to launch the west and east lines of the gas project simultaneously in a bid to start supplying gas between 2014 and 2015. The two sides also agreed to advance major cooperation projects in nuclear energy, coal and other areas.

Fourth, enhance cooperation in the fields of aerospace and aviation, science and technology, transportation, communications and information technology, forestry, quality control and environmental protection.

Fifth, enhance cooperation between localities by implementing an outline of regional cooperation between northeast China and the Russian Far East Area and Eastern Siberia.

Sixth, promote humanities cooperation. They agreed to set up cultural centers in each other's countries at an early date, ensure the success of the Year of the Chinese Language to be held in Russia next year, continue to boost cooperation on health, sports, media and tourism and strengthen youth exchange.

Seventh, step up coordination in international affairs to deal with global challenges. Both sides agreed to jointly promote the establishment of a new international financial order that is fair, just, inclusive and orderly and to improve representation of developing countries and emerging economies.

(Source: Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Business Agreements

China and Russia signed economic and trade cooperation agreements worth more than $4 billion at the Fourth China-Russia Economic and Trade Summit Forum held in Beijing on October 13.

Major deals include:

Russian state-owned oil giant Gazprom signed a framework agreement with China National Petroleum Corp. to supply 70 million cubic meters of natural gas annually to China in the coming years.

Russian Vostok Energy Ltd. will export 800 million kilowatt hours of power to China in 2009—an amount planned to be raised to 1 billion-1.2 billion kilowatt hours by 2010.

China and Russia signed an agreement to build a super shipyard in Russia's Vladivostok with a total investment of up to $200 million.