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The chronology of Russian leaders’ visits to China

MOSCOW, May 20 /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in China on an official visit. He will hold talks in Shanghai on Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and will meet with the leaders of Mongolia, Iraq and Afghanistan. On May 20-21, the Russian President pays his sixth official visit to China to meet the Chinese president and take part in a regular summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

The first visit took place in July 2000. Russia and China signed a number of documents, including the Beijing Declaration and the joint ABM statement. The second visit, in December 2002, was focused on joint actions against international terrorism. The sides signed a relevant declaration. Putin’s third visit took place in October 2004. It was timed to coincide with the 55th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and China and ended with the singing of 14 documents, including the Sino-Russian Good-Neighbourly Treaty of Friendship and the Sino-Russian agreement on cross border problems.

Putin opened the year of Russian Culture in China during his fourth visit in March 2006; the sides signed a declaration on strengthening Russian-Chinese relations, including in the economic sphere.

In May 2008, China became the first country to be visited by Russia’s newly elected President Dmitry Medvedev shortly after his inauguration. A joint declaration on key international issues was signed.

In September 2010, Medvedev paid his second official visit to China. The sides signed an agreement on cooperation in fighting extremism and a contract on oil supplies.

In 2012, Vladimir Putin was re-elected as president of Russia. Prospects for trade and economic cooperation topped the agenda of his fifth official visit to China in June 2012. The sides adopted a joint statement on deepening comprehensive and trustworthy partnership and building up bilateral trade.