Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and her Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev on Saturday hailed bilateral ties and vowed to ensure the Year of China in Russia a success.

The Year of China in Russia have recorded smooth progress and played a positive role in promoting bilateral ties, mutual- understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

Wu, who is here for an international economic forum, told Medvedev that the strategic partnership of cooperation has entered a new stage of development.

China-Russia relations have witnessed fast growth featured with frequent contact of high-level officials and soaring trade and economic cooperation, she said.

On the Year of China in Russia, Wu said that she hopes the two sides will take this opportunity and consolidate the social foundation for the forever friendship between the two countries and promote cooperation in key aspects.

The theme year, a reciprocal event of the Year of Russia in China in 2006, involves 196 programs, including 13 national events. Of them, seven national ones and more than 40 others, have been completed.

Medvedev said that Russia-China relations have developed smoothly and Russia is satisfied and confident with bilateral ties.

Russia will work along with China to carry out the relevant events and further promote bilateral relations.

China-Russia trade kept increasing in the last eight years. It hit 33.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, up 15 percent year on year, Chinese customs figures show.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has predicted on the eve of his visit to Russia in late March that China-Russia trade would reach 60 billion to 80 billion U.S. dollars by 2010.

Russia now plays as China's No. 8 partner in terms of trade volume while China, Russia's forth-largest trade partner.

Source: Xinhua