Newly elected Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev is on his first visit to China after assuming office from Friday, May 22, 2008. The Russian President is going to meet President Hu Jintao and other important Chinese leaders for talks which are likely to be focused on trade negotiations. By visiting China, Mr. Medvedev is continuing his foreign tour as he also visited Kazakhstan and held talks over exporting oil through Russian pipelines.

 

Political analysts suggest that the visit will push forward the strategic China-Russia partnership and further chalk out a blueprint for bilateral ties in the future between the two Asian giants. During the presidency of Mr. Medvedev’s predecessor Vladimir Putin, the relations between Russia and China were promoted to a historic high. In 2007, President Hu Jintao and former President Vladimir Putin had met each other five times.

Trade between the two nations has also been surging ahead at a rapid speed. China has now emerged as the second largest trading partner of Russia after the European Union. In fact the bilateral trade volume surged from 10.67 billion US dollars in 2000 to 48.17 billion dollars in 2007. The relations between the two nations are also governed by an important political dimension as well. Both the nations also reject American global dominance in their political outlook. Mr. Medvedev will also be paying a visit to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in early June, to improve Russia’s ties with the western nations.