"China is one of Russia's great trading partners. What interests the Russian people the most is China's economic cooperation with our country," Evgeny Solov'ev from ITAR-TASS told a China.org.cn reporter on the sidelines of the preparatory meeting of the 11th National People's Congress held on Wednesday in Beijing.

The two countries have many close economic ties - especially regarding energy trades. While China is a large oil and gas consumer, Russia is the world's second largest oil exporter and a major natural gas producer. "Our country has abundant resources and it is ready to supply China," said Mr. Solov'ev.

As a journalist from Russia's official news agency, Mr. Solov'ev was keen on Beijing's preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games, which he found was proceeding along smoothly. "Of course," he said, "there are some problems. But five months still remain and the Beijing government has enough time to resolve them."

Mr. Solov'ev has covered four sessions of China's top parliamentary meeting. In his eyes, Beijing has scored great achievements in the improvement of public transportation facilities. Terminal 3 inside the Beijing airport opened on February 29; he said it was "marvelous" and "among the best ones in the world."

(China.org.cn by Staff Reporter Chen Xia, March 6, 2008)