Vladimir Putin congratulates PRC Chairman Jiang Zemin on the anniversary of the Treaty

President Vladimir Putin of Russia congratulated Chairman of the People's Republic of China Jiang Zemin on the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation between Russia and China. As the Kremlin press service reported, the congratulatory message from the head of the Russian state says in part:

"We regard this founding document as an important landmark in the progressive development of Russian-Chinese relations on the way towards strategic partnership. The results of the last year convincingly testify to the rightness of the decision to place our long-term cooperation on a firm foundation.

"I note with satisfaction that today Russia and China have jointly created an optimal model of bilateral contacts and are developing fruitful and mutually advantageous cooperation in the interests of the Russian and Chinese peoples. I am convinced that the realisation of the potential, built into the Treaty, will contribute to the further deepening and expansion of Russian-Chinese cooperation in political, economic, military-technological, humanitarian and other spheres and to closer coordination of foreign policy efforts of our countries in the international arena."