The President of Russia emphasised that he is very happy to be meeting again with the President of the PRC. “You and I meet regularly, and even though some of these meetings are postponed, that does not change the nature of our dialogue,” said Dmitry Medvedev at the beginning of the talks. “This dialogue is truly the basis of a strategic partnership between our states.”
The President of China expressed regret that the meeting scheduled with the President of Russia at the G8 summit in L’Aquila (in June 2009) did not take place as Hu Jintao was obligated to leave Italy due to domestic political events.
Dmitry Medvedev gave a high assessment to the outcomes of Hu Jintao’s visit to Russia between June 16 and 18, 2009. “In addition to the meetings we held during various summits, you also made a major, serious state visit to our nation, where we discussed the full range of issues in Russian-Chinese relations, reviewed the present-day situation, and made plans for the future. This, too, was an important milestone in our relations,” – Mr Medvedev highlighted.
President of the PRC Hu Jintao noted that the close contacts between high-level authorities within both nations are an important impetus for developing Russian-Chinese strategic partnership.
Following their meeting, the President of Russia and the President of the PRC approved a cooperation programme between the Far East and Eastern Siberia regions of the Russian Federation and the North-Eastern Region of China.
Another topic of discussion at the meeting was North Korea’s nuclear programme. Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao emphasised the need to continue efforts to engage in dialogue with North Korea within the framework of six-party talks.
Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao agreed to have their next meeting during the APEC summit in November 2009 in Singapore.