China, Russia agree to enhance strategic partnership

China and Russia have agreed to enhance their comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, according to a joint statement issued Wednesday.

The statement was released during Russian President Vladimir Putin's three-day state visit to China, where he will also attend the 12th

Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization being held in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday.

Besides his talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Putin also met with other Chinese leaders, including Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress; Premier Wen Jiabao; Vice President Xi Jinping and Vice Premier Li Keqiang.

"The two sides will continue their commitment to enhancing the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination characterized by equality and trust, mutual support, common prosperity and long-lasting friendship," said the statement.

In the document, China and Russia pledged to respect each other's interests as well as rights of choosing their own social systems and development paths.

The two sides will firmly adhere to the principles of non-interference in each other's internal affairs, mutual support for each other's sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and other issues of core interests, win-win reciprocity and non-confrontation, according to the statement.

It continued by saying that the nations have agreed to continue their close high-level interactions, enhance communication and coordination on regional and global issues and deepen pragmatic cooperation in various areas.

They are to make joint efforts to hit their target of bilateral trade reaching 100 billion U.S. dollars in 2015 and 200 billion dollars in 2020. In 2011, bilateral trade volume reached 80 billion U.S. dollars, a record high showing a 42.7-percent year-on-year rise.

According to the statement, China and Russia will boost their cooperation in investment, energy resources, high technology, the aviation and space industry, trans-border infrastructures and other areas.

They will also focus on strategic and large-scale projects and expand cooperation at local levels and enterprise-to-enterprise exchanges.

The two sides will also further enhance bilateral military ties and boost cooperation on security and law enforcement as well as advance cultural and people-to-people exchanges.