Official website of the President of Russia

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Dmitry Medvedev: Hello children, I am very happy to see you here at the Kremlin.

President of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao and I agreed a little while ago that a group of children from the areas hit by the terrible earthquake would come to the Russian Federation for a holiday, and now here you are. Welcome to the Russian Federation!

I hope you have had the chance to rest a bit, restore your strength, and make friends with children from our country. More than 1,000 children from China will come to the Russian Federation this year. This is a very good sign. It shows the very friendly and warm-hearted relations that exist between our countries.

I see that you are all of different ages, but you have all lived through difficult times. Some of you, as far as I know, have even been given the honorary title of Young Hero of China. I have no doubt these lessons in courage will remain forever imprinted in your memories, and you will be able to make use in the future of the knowledge you have gained through these tribulations.

We are always happy to see you here in Russia. Only yesterday I saw off our Olympic team, which left for China to take part in the Olympic Games. Ahead of us we have a big celebration that you have prepared for all sport lovers.

We will all be following the Olympics, following the performance of the athletes, from China, Russia and other countries, sharing their emotions. This is a very good occasion and I am sure that China’s organization of the Olympics in Beijing will be of the very highest standard.

You have been luckier than others in that not only have you been able to holiday in one part of Russia, but you also have the chance to visit Moscow and the Kremlin. This is our capital city, the city where our state has its origins, and there is much of interest here. I hope you will like it.

Once again I would like to say how happy I am to see you here in the Kremlin and to say that your visit has become another symbol of the good-hearted partnership and special relations between China and Russia.