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People'S Republic of China President Hu Jintao: Ladies and gentlemen! Friends!

I am very pleased that President Medvedev and I are able to meet with you today.

As you know, we have just completed some very fruitful negotiations with Mr President. We had a comprehensive and frank exchange of views on a number of topical issues and managed to reach agreement on a wide range of issues. We reviewed in detail the results of Sino-Russian strategic cooperation from its inception and outlined its principle directions for the future.

Let me single out some of the most important results of our encounter. President Medvedev and I signed a joint declaration between the PRC [People's Republic of China] and the Russian Federation on major international issues. This is the latest in a series of documents adopted by China and Russia on international affairs. It sets out common approaches and positions on the most urgent and fundamental international and regional issues. We are calling for coordinated efforts to effectively counter common threats and challenges, ensure lasting peace and create a harmonious world.

We both fervently believe that the relations of strategic partnership and cooperation between China and Russia are a priority foreign policy for our countries. We expressed our commitment to the spirit and the letter of the Sino-Russian Treaty on Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation. We reaffirmed our willingness to implement the idea of a peaceful transfer of friendship from generation to generation, as well as the desire to build up mutual support that will ensure a healthy mutual strategic partnership and cooperation in the long term.

We have expressed an interest in expanding facilities for our mutual benefit and improving the quality and level of practical cooperation. We will increase our joint efforts to build sustainable trade, extend economic and technical cooperation, promote mutual investment and improve trade arrangements. We will intensively promote cooperation in oil and gas and raise the level of scientific and technological cooperation. We will intensively promote scientific and technological development. We will be active in the area of environmental protection and the conservation of cross-border water resources.

We are of the same mind about the enormous potential and encouraging prospects of cooperation between our regions. We expressed our determination to use existing mechanisms of cooperation within the regions. First and foremost, it is important to coordinate strategy for the development of our regions and to intensify construction of cross-border infrastructure for the development and regeneration of our countries' contiguous regions.

The National Years of Russia and China in our respective countries have been very successful, as has the cultural cooperation between us more generally. We have therefore agreed to focus on the implementation of the national year projects so that they can become a regular occurrence.

By the same token we will energetically prepare and carry out Russian Language Year in China in 2009, followed by the Chinese Language Year in Russia in 2010. We greatly appreciate and are thankful for the invaluable support and assistance Russia offered after the earthquake in the Sichuan province, as well as for its help with the Beijing Olympics.

I am confident that, with the support and assistance of the international community, including Russia, our government and people will be able to overcome all the difficulties caused by this terrible earthquake and rebuild their lives.

We will also honour our commitment to make sure that the Olympics are conducted at the highest possible level.

During our negotiations President Medvedev invited a group of schoolchildren from the province of Sichuan to come to Russia to recover from the effects of the earthquake. I expressed my heartfelt thanks and I believe that this reflects the high level of our strategic partnership, as well as the Russian people's friendly feelings towards the Chinese people.

President Medvedev's first state visit has been a great success. I am confident that the Sino-Russian strategic partnership and increased cooperation will lead our relations to a new level of development.

President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: President Hu Jintao, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to start by personally thanking the President and all of our Chinese friends for the traditionally warm reception, and say that I am fully satisfied with the results of the talks that have taken place. I hope that these talks, like our previous meetings and the meetings tomorrow, will mark an important stage in developing our cooperation.

My visit to the People’s Republic of China is taking place at a time when the friendly Chinese people are courageously dealing with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province.

On behalf of the entire Russian people I want to once more express my profound and sincere condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery to all who were injured. The Chinese people’s resilient spirit and the capable way in which the central and local authorities are dealing with the aftermath of the disaster are a source of admiration.

Russia was quick to respond, sending humanitarian aid, rescue workers and doctors to the stricken regions. We will continue to provide help if needed. It could not possibly be otherwise, because between friends, who always stand together, relations should be precisely of this kind.

Our talks today reaffirmed our common desire to continue the current course in our bilateral relations, maintaining their dynamism, mutual trust and our commitment to building on our strategic partnership. We can rely in this work on the solid foundation laid by the Treaty on Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation.

During our talks with President Hu Jintao, we summed up some of the results of our bilateral cooperation and outlined new objectives. Without a doubt, much has been accomplished: a mechanism for regular political dialogue is now in place and we have fully settled the border question. I think this is above all the result of the very high level of mutual trust that exists between us.

The holding of the National Years of Russia and China in our respective countries was a genuinely unique event. We adopted the first medium-term action plan on implementing the Treaty on Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation over the period 2005–2008.

Our economic cooperation is growing fast. It is enough to say that over the last eight years our bilateral trade has increased by a third on average every year and came to more than $40 billion in 2007. Specialists predict that we could reach our stated goal of at least $60 billion by 2010 earlier than planned.

But for all these substantial achievements, we and our Chinese friends do not intend to rest on our laurels. We have agreed that this year we will adopt a new action plan on implementing our key Treaty over the period 2009–2012.

I am sure that we have the potential for thoroughly strengthening the foundations of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership, including through substantially changing the quality of our economic development and putting our cooperation on an innovation-based foundation.

As the President just said, we are set to develop our energy sector cooperation and we will also give priority attention to high-technology industries such as aircraft manufacturing, nuclear energy, the space sector, information technology and nanotechnology.

We will work as actively as possible to develop transport infrastructure, intensify banking sector cooperation and put in place civilised forms of labour migration. Of course, environmental protection has been and still is a key area for our work together.

I already mentioned the importance of the cultural ties between our countries, in particular the National Year project. This was a very ambitious and interesting project. We have agreed now that the most successful and important events that were part of its programme will take place on a regular basis. We have also planned another big event: Russian Language Year in China in 2009 and Chinese Language Year in Russia in 2010.

Finally, we greatly value the foreign policy dialogue between our countries, as is evidenced by the joint declaration on key international issues that we have just signed. This declaration reflects the level of cooperation we have achieved within international and regional organisations and fixes our positions on the most urgent issues, including matters such as the spread of missile defence systems, bloc issues and a number of other questions.

In conclusion, I want to say once again that we will continue our dialogue. We will continue discussing all the different aspects of our cooperation at the multilateral summits that will take place this year. And, of course, we will be waiting for President Hu Jintao’s visit to the Russian Federation next year.