Special Report: President Hu visits Russia

Special Report: Year of China in Russia

      MOSCOW, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The "Year of China in Russia" has been widely hailed since it opened here Tuesday and has drawn attention not only in Russia but across the world.

    The theme year, brought under the international media spotlight as a result of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit, continued in earnest Tuesday with the staging of the Chinese National Exhibition -- the biggest comprehensive show China has held abroad in almost three decades.

    The theme year is the reciprocal event of 2006's "Year of Russia in China."

    "The Chinese National Exhibition shows that it (China) has now recorded a much faster economic growth than the United States," said former Prime Minister Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov.

    Contracts worth 4.3 billion U.S. dollars were inked by Chinese and Russian enterprises after the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

    The show, one of about 200 events to be held this year to mark the "Year of China in Russia," occupies a huge hall with more than20,000 square meters of floor space and showcases some 15,000 products from 30 industries such as energy, machinery, automobile and home appliances.

    Gennady Zyuganov, chief of the Russian Communist Party, was deeply impressed by the exhibition, saying Russia should learn from China's rapid development.

    "We should learn from China's development experience and turn our eyes away from the pattern of the West, including the United States," said Zyuganov.

    Russian TV stations, newspapers and websites broadcasted live or made the opening ceremony of the theme year and the exhibition their lead stories, and highlighted China's achievements in aviation, ship-building, information technology and other sectors.

    The Commersant and Rossiskaya Gazeta, two key newspapers in the country, published special issues for the theme year, introducing to their readers an overall view of China, covering various aspects such as politics, foreign policy, economy and trade, history and culture.

    The Moscow Times, which also paid much attention to the event, said agreements signed during Hu's visit enhanced closer economic cooperation between the two countries.

    Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said the theme year "will be accompanied by interesting, unique and informative events for the Russians."

    The theme year's more than 200 festivities include a cultural festival, an exhibition of fine porcelain and another of treasure from the Forbidden City, as well as acrobatics performances, ballet and Shaolin Kung fu.

China, Russia reach common ground on major international issues 

    MOSCOW, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China and Russia have reached common ground on major international issues as Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met here on Monday.

After their talks, the two leaders signed a joint statement, outlining the two countries' concerted attitudes to and stances on some major international issues. Full story

China, Russia to boost co-op in trade, investment, energy

    MOSCOW, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday vowed to boost cooperation in trade, investment, energy and other sectors.

    In a joint statement signed by the two leaders Monday, Hu and Putin noted the vigorous development of trade cooperation between the two countries in recent years. Full story 

Chinese president arrives in Moscow for visit

    MOSCOW, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Moscow on Monday for a state visit aimed at strengthening the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation.

    In a written statement issued upon his arrival at the airport, Hu said that the year 2006 saw "important progress made in the development of Sino-Russian relations."  Full story