CHINA: President Hu Jintao hosts a welcoming ceremony for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who is in Beijing to attend a regional security summit

Record ID: 872661

  • Title: CHINA: President Hu Jintao hosts a welcoming ceremony for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who is in Beijing to attend a regional security summit
  • Date: 6th June 2012
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (JUNE 5, 2012) (REUTERS) TIANANMEN SQUARE CHINESE AND RUSSIAN NATIONAL FLAGS/TRAFFIC EXTERIOR OF GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE CHINESE PRESIDENT HU JINTAO AND RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN WALKING ONTO PODIUM
  • Embargoed: 21st June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9PRF7R9T6ZBEPNH3HCJQ2GU3L
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Chinese President Hu Jintao held a welcoming ceremony for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday (June 5).
    Putin arrived in the Chinese capital on Tuesday morning, for the first time since his return to Russia's presidency.
    Newly re-installed as president after four years as prime minister to his protege Dmitry Medvedev, Putin met EU officials in St Petersburg on Monday (June 4) before embarking on a state visit to China.
    After the ceremony, the two leaders will hold bilateral talks, witness signing of several cooperation deals and meet journalists together.
    Putin is in China to attend on June 6-7 summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which also includes former Soviet states in central Asia.
    Among the talks between Russia, the world's biggest energy producer, and China, the largest consumer of energy, will be a natural gas deal which Moscow hopes to finalise after years of negotiation.
    Also on the table is a multi-billion dollar joint venture to build a long-haul aircraft, Russian media have said, and a state-run fund to invest in Russian and Chinese projects.
    Russian trade with China has risen at least 40 percent year on year for the last two years, and Russian officials say that a target to have $100 billion U.S. dollars in bilateral trade by 2015 is likely to be reached ahead of time.
    Another central theme of the talks on Tuesday will be the violence in Syria and the future of President Bashar al-Assad.
    Russia and China -- both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- have stymied efforts by Western powers to condemn or call for the removal of the Syrian leader in formal resolutions.
    Russia and China have also voiced opposition to new sanctions against Iran, whose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to meet the leaders in Beijing, over its nuclear programme.
    While the two countries agree on a common front to defend common interests globally, their relationship is thornier closer to home.
    Suggesting Russia's fears over China, Moscow has been bolstering its military presence in the Far East and around China with plans to move the first of its newest class of submarines to the Pacific Fleet at Vladivostok.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register