HONG KONG, September 21. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s parliament upper house Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko will begin an official visit to China on Sunday with a brief stopover in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
She also plans to visit Guangzhou, administrative centre in southern province Guangdong, and China’s capital, Beijing, where the country’s leadership will receive her.
In the Chinese capital the Federation Council delegation plans to participate in a festive event on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Russia and China. “The visit is paid amid intensive development of co-operation between our countries almost in all spheres,” the upper house speaker said on the eve of the working trip.
As for tasks which Russia and China face today the Federation Council speaker noted importance of implementing several joint projects of strategic significance. “These are construction of a new gas pipeline system in China, nuclear power industry, joint projects in aviation, transport infrastructure, development of territories in Russia’s Far East and north-eastern China,” she added.
Matviyenko noted significance of stepping up inter-regional co-operation which was constantly on the rise in total volume of Russian-Chinese ties. In this regard, she finds it extremely important also to bring inter-parliamentary co-operation to a new level. “During the visit we hope to take decisions which will give new impetus to co-operation between the Federation Council and the All-China Assembly of People’s Representatives in legislative sphere, international parliamentary organisations and in the issues of political, economic, scientific-technical, cultural and humanitarian co-operation between Russia and China,” Matviyenko said.
In her view, inter-parliamentary ties have already made important part of strategic co-operation between the two countries. “The Federation Council is satisfied how our relations with partners in the All-China Assembly of People’s Representatives are developing,” she said, noting that these contacts were characteristic of high intensity and diversity of formats.
Matviyenko said that Moscow and Beijing succeeded to create jointly a system of co-operation which not only ensures development of co-operation between the parliaments of the two countries, but also contributes to practical fulfilment of Russian-Chinese agreements, accords and projects. “We are unanimous in the view that the potential of inter-parliamentary co-operation between Russia and China is far from being exhausted and we have something to work on together,” she added.