Foreign and Military Affairs

Chinese president winds up Eurasia tour

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-21 06:28

KIEV - Chinese President Hu Jintao concluded his trip to Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine and left Kiev for home Monday.

The Chinese leader began his tour of Eurasia on June 12 from Kazakhstan, where he also attended an annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Hu's trip to the three nations is of special importance. This year marks the SCO's 10th birthday, and China and Russia are also celebrating the 10th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation.

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Hu's state visit to Ukraine is the first by a Chinese head of state in the last 10 years.

President Hu, who arrived in Ukraine Saturday for a three-day state visit, met his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich and other leaders of the country Monday on upgrading China-Ukraine ties.

The two sides reviewed the achievement of bilateral ties over the past 19 years and worked out plans for the further development of bilateral relations in the future.

Hu and Yanukovich signed a joint statement on setting up and developing a strategic partnership between China and Ukraine, lifting bilateral relations to a higher level.

Before that, Hu paid a state visit to Russia and attended the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

In Moscow, Hu and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin exchanged views on the further development of the strategic and cooperative partnership between the two nations in the next decade.

Leaders of the two countries agreed to develop a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership featuring equality, mutual trust, mutual support, common prosperity and lasting friendship in the new decade.

As for practical cooperation, President Hu said the two sides should work to boost bilateral trade, with the goals of reaching $100 billion by the year of 2015 and 200 billion dollars by the year of 2020.

Hu and Medvedev signed a joint statement on the current international situation and on major international issues. The two leaders also issued a joint statement on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, noting that the two countries have seen all-round rapid development of bilateral relations in the past decade.

At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, President Hu made a major speech, saying that China would like to make joint efforts with other countries to address major world economic challenges.

In Astana, President Hu held talks with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev and they agreed to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Kazakhstan.

Hu put forward a set of proposals in his talks with the Kazakh leader for expanding bilateral cooperation, including raising the two-way trade volume from 20 billion dollars in 2010 to 40 billion dollars by the year of 2015.

At the Astana summit, leaders of SCO members celebrated the 10th birthday of the organization and formulated the SCO's missions for the next decade.

Addressing the summit, Hu explained China's propositions on the development of the SCO in the next decade.

In the next 10 years, the Chinese president said, the SCO members should continue their efforts to deepen good-neighborly friendship, strengthen regional security, expand practical cooperation, and increase people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

Analysts said that Hu's trip has upgraded bilateral ties between China and the three nations, and promoted the healthy development of the SCO.