On April 29, 2003, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, who is in Almaty, Kazakhstan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, met with Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov.

Li started by saying that at the moment when the new leadership of the Communist Party of China and of the State comes unto the scene, China-Russia friendly relations and cooperation of good-neighborliness and mutual benefit have not only been completely inherited, but also gathered momentum. President Hu Jintao and President Putin attach great importance to the development of bilateral relations. They often exchange views on bilateral relations and major international issues and have established good working relationship and personal friendship in the process. They emphasized that whatever changes the international situation may undergo, China and Russia will give priority to bilateral relations in their respective foreign policies and their policy of deepening and developing bilateral strategic coordination in various fields will remain intact, and that the mechanism of high-level contacts and the cooperation between the two governments and relevant departments of the two countries will continue to be intensified. The heads of the state of the two countries have pointed out the direction for the further development of bilateral relations.

Seconding Li’s views, Ivanov said that Russia-China relations should not only be maintained, but also develop in a rapid and comprehensive manner. He added that the development of bilateral relations will exert positive impact on the current international situation.

The two foreign ministers also exchanged views and reached extensive consensus on this year’s upcoming high-level contacts between the two countries and bilateral relations in general.

The two foreign ministers also discussed about how to highlight the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Iraqi issue, the DPRK nuclear issue and other international issues. They were both of the view that the two countries share the same position and objective as far as the above-mentioned issues are concerned. Ivanov said that the just-concluded Beijing talks by China, DPRK and US are very important and hoped that this will be kept on.

On the same day, Li also met with his Kyrgystan and Kazakhstan counterparts.