Chinese President Hu in Moscow for talks on energy, trade

Jun 15, 2011, 19:32 GMT

Moscow - Chinese President Hu Jintao was in the Russian capital Moscow on Thursday for a four-day official visit devoted to energy issues and bilateral trade between the two countries.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Hu met in one-on-one talks in Moscow on Thursday morning. The main topic was the shipment of Russian natural gas to China, according to news reports.

Russian media predicted announcement before Hu's Saturday departure of a deal to increase shipments of Russian natural gas to China.

Emphasizing warm relations between the Kremlin and Beijing was another central theme of the visit, with Medvedev receiving Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing in the Kremlin's glittering St George hall.

'Relations between Russia and China are developing at a very good pace,' Medvedev said. 'I am glad to welcome you to Moscow ... you and I meet relatively frequently, but we will always have time to discuss important issues.'

'Our continuous exchange of opinions on a whole range of pressing questions is one of the main reasons for the dynamic and successful developement of Russia-China relations,' Hu said, in comments aired by Russian national television.

Among the topics the two leaders discussed were the conflicts in Libya and Syria, the security situation in North Korea, nuclear energy, border demarcation, aerospace cooperation and development, and military equipment sales, the Interfax news agency reported.

Trade issues on the agenda included setting up jointly operated border crossing points and improving transportation infrastructure between the two countries.

Hu and Medvedev were planning to travel to the Baltic city port city St Petersburg on Thursday afternoon to give keynote speeches at an economic conference.

Discussions at the three-day Petersburg International Economic Forum were to cover energy policy, emerging markets, and the role of BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China), conference organizers said.

The forum comes on the heels of a Wednesday summit in the Kazakhstan capital Astana where Hu, Medvedev, and the leaders of Central and South Asian nations joined to condemn US plans to deploy a missile shield in Europe, which the Kremlin has said threaten Russia.

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