President Vladimir Putin: Mr Minister,
I think you will have an agreeable time and find it no difficulty working with Russia, as relations between our countries have reached a very high level of trust and practical cooperation over recent years. This is also true of humanitarian cooperation: more than 300 events took place last year as part of the Year of Russia in China, and this year we are holding the Year of China in the Russian Federation, which is also a success.
This is also true of our economic cooperation. Our bilateral trade has reached the record mark of around $30 billion and is continuing to grow, and to grow rapidly what’s more, by around 35–40–43 percent a year.
We hold regular contacts in practically all areas and at all levels: at municipal, regional and federal level.
I will be meeting soon with the President of China [Hu Jintao] on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. I ask you to please convey my best wishes to the President and to tell him that we are looking forward to seeing him in order to pursue our multilateral work and also to discuss bilateral affairs. I am sure that the contacts between our foreign ministries will also continue just as intensively as has been the case until now, including through work together in the international organisations.
Yang Jiechi: (consecutive interpretation) Mr President,
First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you for finding the time to meet with my colleagues and I despite your busy schedule.
I would like to pass on President Hu Jintao’s warmest greetings and I will pass on to him your best wishes.
The great support and attention of our head of state and our government have enabled us to make considerable progress in developing the relations and the strategic cooperation and partnership between our two countries over these last years.
The national years of China and Russia, which was an initiative of the Chinese and Russian Presidents, indeed deserve to be called great events in the history of relations between our countries.
Last year, around 300 events were held successfully as part of the Year of Russia in China, and these events have done a lot to develop our relations. Various events are now taking place here to mark the Year of China in Russia, and these events are also proving a great success. In this respect, I would like to express our gratitude to Russia for the great support and hospitality the Chinese delegation has received.