On May 28, Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is on a state visit to Russia, met separately with leaders of Russian Federation Council (upper house) Chairman Sergei Mironov and State Duma (lower house) Chairman Gennady Seleznev, and had a friendly conversation with them on wide-ranging topics including China-Russia relations, bilateral parliamentary exchanges and respective domestic economic development.

Hu conveyed separately cordial greetings from Chairman Wu Bangguo of China's National People's Congress (NPC) to Mironov and Seleznev, and pointed out that the NPC and the two houses of Russia's parliament have maintained frequent exchanges. Parliament leaders regularly exchange visits and corresponding committees and personnel have close contacts. Mutual understanding and trust between the two parliaments have become an important driving force in deepening and strengthening bilateral relations. He expressed the hope that in the spirit of strategic cooperation, the two parliaments could further strengthen communication and cooperation, making new contributions to the development of Sino-Russian relations.

Mironov said both Russia and China face tasks of developing their economies and share responsibilities of safeguarding world peace and stability. He said he is glad to see the great achievements scored by China, which chose its own path of development based on its national condition. He said there are broad prospects for the development of Russia-China relations, and that he firmly believes President Hu's visit will surely promote exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in various fields to the benefit of the two peoples.

Seleznev said an increasing number of State Duma members have visited China in recent years and they were all impressed by the rapid development of China. Seleznev pledged to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation and exchange experiences with China so as to push forward the Russia-China strategic partnership of cooperation with concrete acts.