Russian parliamentary leader praises ties with China

Russia values its anti-terrorism cooperation with China as well as bilateral economic and trade ties, Sergei Mironov, speaker of Russian Federation Council, or the upper house of parliament, said Monday.

Cooperation in fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism is one of the main aspects of the Russian-Chinese cooperation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Mironov told the Interfax news agency in an interview ahead of his visit to China scheduled for Sept. 23-26.

"Russia attaches special importance to cooperation with China in fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism in the SCO and in its Regional Anti-Terror Structure," Mironov said.

Moscow and Beijing have coordinated their approaches to anti-terror cooperation between the organization's member states and have common positions on regional stability, Mironov said.

Speaking of economic cooperation, the Russian parliamentary leader said bilateral economic and trade ties are growing rapidly. China is posed to become Russia's second largest trading partner while Russia remains a top trading partner for China.

Strengthening cooperation in energy is key to boosting economic ties, Mironov said. Russian oil supplies to China via railways are expected to hit 15 million tons in 2006 and the two sides are in talks on supplying China with Russian gas, he added.

The Russia-China oil pipeline project is open to both Russian and Chinese companies, Mironov said.

Source: Xinhua