Official website of the President of Russia

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President of the People’S Republic of China Hu Jintao: Mr President,

You are a great friend of our people. We value very much the fact that over a long period now you have been doing a great deal to build Russian-Chinese relations and are making an important contribution to their development.

The very fact that China is the first more distant foreign country you are visiting after taking office as President of Russia is convincing evidence of the attention the Russian leadership pays to building our bilateral relations. I am sure that your visit will give a new boost to our strategic partnership and cooperation, and take it to a new level.

The south of our country was hit by severe cold and heavy snowfalls at the start of the year, and now Sichuan has been struck by the recent devastating earthquake. Russia has shared this pain with us and provided valuable support and selfless assistance.

I would like to take this opportunity to express our profound gratitude to you personally, Mr President, to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the Russian Government and all the people of Russia.

We have already had a detailed exchange of view on some subjects, and I am now ready to continue this dialogue on bilateral cooperation issues and matters of mutual interest.

President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Mr President,

I want to say once more that we are very pleased at this meeting, and I want to thank you for the warm reception that you always give us in Beijing, in the People’s Republic of China.

Russia and China are strategic partners, and as you rightly put it, this is the reason why our delegation has come here today, and this is why I am making my first state visit in my new capacity to the People’s Republic of China.