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Sino-Russian Relations Russia is the first stop of Chinese President Hu Jintao's first overseas tour since he took office. During his visit, Hu held wide-ranging and extensive talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking Russian officials. The two countries signed a joint statement and two other documents. Both sides expressed that they would further strengthen a friendly and good-neighborly relationship, expand cooperation in all aspects and elevate the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation to a new height based on existing achievements in bilateral ties.

The cornerstone of Sino-Russian ties oriented to the 21st century is their strategic partnership of cooperation and the Sino-Russian Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. Their friendship represents a new type of state-to-state relationship with the characteristics of non-alliance, non-confrontation and not directed at a third country. The Sino-Russian strategic partnership is being enriched and developed. China and Russia have also established a new security concept with mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation as its core, and are devoted to building a new international political and economic order that is fairer and more rational and democratic. The establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a good example of cooperation between China and Russia in this regard.

Currently, based on the joint efforts of the two countries, 97 percent of their 4,300-km-long border has been demarcated, which means that the boundary question that had long affected bilateral ties in the past has been basically solved.

At the same time, Sino-Russian economic and trade cooperation has flourished. The bilateral trade volume was only $4.63 billion in 1992. It soared to $12 billion in 2002 and $15.7 billion in 2003, and the growth is continuing. Energy cooperation is now a new growth point of bilateral investment expansion. After meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Putin said that cooperation in energy is a very important aspect of Sino-Russian relations and the cooperation has great potential. The Siberian region of Russia is rich in natural resources, while China has a huge demand for resources at a period of fast growth. So, in this area, the two countries are complementary and both need support and help from the other. President Putin expressed that Russia is planning to further increase oil exports to China.