On the eve of New Year 2007, Chinese President Hu Jintao expressed confidence in a message of greeting to Russian President Vladimir Put in that the activities of the "Year of China" in Russia would be a complete success.

With the year drawing to a close, the theme events have proved as fruitful as the "Year of Russia" held in China in 2006. The reciprocal national theme year activities in both countries have contributed to deepening the traditional friendship between the two peoples.

POLITICAL TIES IMPROVED

In 2005, Hu and Putin initiated the reciprocal national theme years, the Year of Russia in China in 2006 and the Year of China in Russia in 2007, to push forward the Sino-Russian strategic partnership.

In the following two years, China and Russia organized and carried out more than 500 activities in the fields including politics, economy, culture, military cooperation, education, science, technology and health care.

To highlight the importance of the events, the Chinese and Russian presidents attended the opening ceremonies of the theme years respectively in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and the Kremlin in Moscow. The closing ceremonies were attended by the premiers of the two countries.

The reciprocal visits by Hu and Putin constituted the centerpiece of the friendly activities, which also included promoted exchanges between the premiers and other officials of the two neighbors, as well as closer contact between the countries' parliaments.

Political trust has grown over the past two years. The two countries support each other on some vital issues concerning each other's core interests, while making joint efforts to preserve the global strategic balance and world peace and stability.

China and Russia have also coordinated their actions in the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and on some important international issues.

"Thanks to the successful national years, bilateral exchanges and cooperation in political, economic, trade, cultural and educational sectors were deepened and enriched," said Chinese Ambassador to Russia Liu Guchang.

Russian Ambassador to China Sergei Razov also hailed the smooth development of bilateral ties in various fields. He said that Putin and Hu had held five meetings this year, which greatly promoted the development of the political relationship.

ECONOMIC TIES AND TRADE BOOMED

The national theme years have added to the momentum for both China and Russia to further economic and trade cooperation and tap their potentials.

Yu Guangzhou, Chinese vice minister of commerce, has predicted that the bilateral trade, following last year's volume of 33.4 billion U.S. dollars, will hit a new high this year at 50 billion dollars.

"In the last two years, Chinese-Russian trade was further optimized, marked by increasing two-way investment and flourishing economic cooperation between the two countries' border and inland regions," Yu said.

Some 30 joint economic and trade projects have been launched within the framework of the "Year of China," which covers energy, investment, finance, telecommunications and transportation.

Currently, there are 20 joint ventures in 12 Russian regions, with a total contract volume of 5.5 billion dollars, according to Russian business leaders.

China now becomes Russia's third-largest trading partner, as Russia ranks China's eighth-largest.

Analysts say that the national theme years have promoted contact between the business circles in the two economies, broadening prospects for further cooperation.

CULTURAL, HUMANITARIAN RELATIONS ENHANCED

As an important part of the strategic partnership of coordination, the Chinese-Russian cultural and educational exchanges have boosted mutual understanding and consolidated the friendship between the two peoples.

Delegations from China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Hubei, Zhejiang and Hainan provinces, and the major cities of Beijing and Shanghai, organized dozens of activities in Russia this year, including concerts, singing and dancing performances, exhibitions and screenings of Chinese movies, according to the Moscow-based Chinese information and media center.

"All of those activities were local and unique, which helped Russians to get a better knowledge of China," said Ding Xiaoming, director of the center.

"The national years stimulated the whole socioeconomic interaction between Russia and China," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.

"We have come to better understand the Chinese, and the Chinese have come to better understand us," he added.

China and Russia have decided to hold events such as cultural festivals, education theme weeks, youth exchanges and movie screenings regularly in the coming years.

A "Year of Russian Language" and a "Year of Chinese Language" will be held in 2009 in China and 2010 in Russia, respectively, as a follow-up to the successful national theme years.

"Russia-China relations have entered into an unprecedented positive period and established a model of bilateral ties for world nations in the 21st century," Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov told his visiting Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao at the closing ceremony of the "Year of China" in November.

Wen also expressed confidence that the spirit of "friendship for generations and joint progress," advocated in the national years, will be carried on to future eras, and bilateral cooperation in various fields will be further boosted.

Editor: Donald