(26 Dec 1996) Mandarin/Nat
Chinese Premier Li Peng arrived in Russia on Thursday, seeking to further entrench the growing ties between the former Communist rivals.
During his three-day visit, Li Peng will meet Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and President Boris Yeltsin.
Before Li Peng's arrival in Russia, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Shen Guofang spoke in Beijing of strengthening relations with Russia.
Chinese Premier Li Peng arrived in Moscow Thursday for the beginning of a three-day visit of high-level meetings with the Russian government.
His visit will be seeking to further strengthen the growing political, economic and military ties between the two countries.
Li will meet Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, in the first of planned regular meetings between the countries' premiers.
The two will also prepare for a spring summit between presidents Jiang Zemin and Boris Yeltsin.
Yeltsin visited Beijing in April, bringing relations between the two communist rivals to their warmest since the late 1950s.
Both countries see enormous potential for increased trade, which, according to Russian officials, will hit seven (b) billion U-S dollars this year, up one-point-five (b) billion U-S dollars over last year.
With its economy booming, China wants to keep buying sophisticated Russian military technology.
The two countries have also discussed Russian help in building a nuclear power plant in China's eastern Jiangsu province and jointly constructing a natural gas pipeline from Siberia to China.
As Li was flying to Russia, during the weekly Foreign Ministry briefing in Beijing, spokesman Shen Guofang spoke about Chinese-Russian relations.
He said China wants to bolster economic, political and strategic ties.
SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin)
"The development of our neighbourly relations of friendship and cooperation with Russia has no connection with Chinese-U-S relations. At the moment, our cooperation with Russia - whether it is political or economic, has great potential. In this regard, both sides are willing to further develop our strategic relationship for the coming twenty-first century. Furthermore, whether political borders, or economics and trade -- and this is another aspect -- great success has been achieved. We hope that we can guarantee a sort of stable and healthy -- a sort of strategic and mutually helpful relationship with Russia, for a common effort in preserving the peace and stability in our region."
SUPER CAPTION: Mr. Shen Guofang - Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman
On Friday, Li Peng will meet with Boris Yeltsin. This will be Yeltsin's first meeting with a foreign leader since his heart operation and recovery.
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