China, Russia Agree to Strengthen Strategic Partnership

27 September 2010

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, left, with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao arrives for a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, 27 Sept. 2010

President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev inspected an honor guard at a welcoming ceremony Monday at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

Following a closed-door meeting, the two leaders signed a statement calling for comprehensively deepening what was described as "the strategic partnership of cooperation."

The two giant neighbors also signed agreements to fight separatism and extremism, and commercial deals covering coal, nuclear energy and banking.

The Chinese president pointed to a series of agreements to expand trade and economic cooperation. He especially praised the completion of the first oil pipeline from Russia to China.

Mr. Hu points out the pipeline, and says both sides agree to stick to the principles of openness and mutual benefit in further cooperation in trade, investment, energy, finance, legislation and high-technology industries.

The 1,000-kilometer long oil pipeline from eastern Siberia to China becomes operational in November. It connects Russian oil fields with Daqing, a major oil processing base in northeastern China.

Under the deal, China is lending Russia $25 billion dollars and will be guaranteed as much as 300,000 barrels of oil a day for 20 years. The two sides also have agreed to jointly develop a $5 billion oil refinery in China.