At first, Vladimir Putin and Jiang Zemin, Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, who arrived in St Petersburg to participate in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, discussed the results of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia. The sides noted that the summit was of major importance for the development of cooperation and prevention of conflicts in the region.
Mr Putin told Mr Zemin in detail about the results of the US President’s visit to Russia, the Russia-NATO summit in Rome and the Russia-EU summit in Moscow.
The two countries’ leaders noted a high level of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the international arena, which was of major importance for global stability. Mr Putin and Mr Zemin positively assessed the expansion of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries and pointed to the need to take steps to ensure its more dynamic development.
Mr Putin and Mr Zemin also expressed their satisfaction with the recent session of the Russian-Chinese commission for military-technical cooperation held in Beijing. After the meeting, the Russian President and the Chairman of the PRC had dinner together.