Chinese, Russian Presidents Hold Private TalksPresident Jiang Zemin and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin started their private talks Tuesday morning at the Great Hall of the People.This is the second time that Jiang and Putin had conferred with each other since Putin assumed the Russian presidency. The two heads of state had their first meeting early this month when attending the "Shanghai Five" summit in Tajikistan capital Dushanbe. Red-carpet Welcome for Putin The talks were preceded by a grand ceremony to welcome Putin. President Jiang Zemin hosted a red-carpet, 21-gun ceremony to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin at the plaza east to the Great Hall of the People this morning. The two heads of state reviewed the guards of honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army after a military bank played the national anthems of Russia and China. Among those present at the ceremony were Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen, Vice-Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee Jiang Chunyun, State Councilor and Defence Minister Chi Haotian, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Song Jian, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of China Democratic League Lu Qiang, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, and Minister in charge of the State Development Planning Commission Zeng Peiyan. Putin's entourage, including Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Defense Minister Igor Dmitriyevich Sergeyev, First Deputy Director of the Presidential Office Dmitri Medvedev, Deputy Director of the Presidential Office Sergei Prikhodko, Russian Ambassador to China Igor A. Rogachev, Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov and Power Minister Alexander Gavrin, also attended the ceremony. Putin arrived in the Chinese capital Monday midnight for his first state visit as guest of Jiang. |
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