China-Russia relations continue to blossom in 2012

In a year when the world has been bewildered by a sluggish economy, China and Russia have spent much of their time talking about a notable boom in trade and how to enhance their comprehensive strategic partnership.

Building on the good momentum of past years, relations between China and Russia surged to a new high in 2012, with frequent high-level visits, fruitful economic cooperation and enriched cultural exchanges.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the two nations' ties are the best they've ever been and can be cited as an excellent example of modern relations between responsible powers.

RARE IN RELATIONS BETWEEN MAJOR POWERS

"This is obvious that Russia-China relations have developed at a fast pace this year. They were at the highest level ever and they keep going in that direction," Yakov Berger, a professor at Russia's Far East Institute, told Xinhua.

"China-Russia relations are unique and could hardly be repeated in their relations with any other country," Berger said, "I can hardly imagine the same level of trust could exist between, say, China and the United States, or Russia and Japan."

Beijing and Moscow this year also witnessed intensive political communications and multi-layered cooperation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China in June during his first foreign tour after taking office. During the visit, Putin and President Hu Jintao laid out a blueprint for their countries' bilateral relationship for the next decade.

The blueprint features taking the growth of each country as a crucial opportunity and making bilateral cooperation one of the main priorities for Moscow and Beijing.

Vice Premier Li Keqiang traveled to Russia in April and saw the two countries sign several high-tech agreements in an expansion of their traditional cooperation in energy.

Hu flew to Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok in September to attend the leaders' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). He and Putin there pledged further commitment to the bilateral strategic cooperation.

Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Russia and a joint communique issued after his participation in the 17th regular meeting between the two heads of government in early December marked another key event in the countries' bilateral ties.

Li Hui, the Chinese ambassador to Russia, spoke highly of the regular high-level meetings between the two heavyweight neighbors. Li described the well-designed framework "unique among China-foreign relations and rare in relations between major powers."