The Russian President met with Hu Jintao, Secretary-General of the Chinese Communist Party, and congratulated him on his appointment to the position. President Putin expressed his confidence that Russian-Chinese relations would remain strong and reliable.
During his talk with Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, President Putin discussed economic issues. He said in the following year Russia would exceed the planned economic growth indicators, reaching 4% growth instead of 3.5%. That would be fairly good compared to the world economy.
Mr Putin also met with Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Li Peng.