China's Wen leaves for Russia, Kazakhstan Beijing (AFP) Oct 27, 2008 Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao embarked on a five-day tour of Russia and Kazakhstan on Monday which is expected to focus on the global financial crisis and energy security. Wen will hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as part of the nations' annual prime ministerial meeting, the official Xinhua news agency said as it announced the premier's departure. In Kazakhstan, Wen will attend the annual leaders' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a Central Asian grouping that focuses on regional security, foreign ministry officials said earlier. Wen's trip follows the two-day summit of Asian and European leaders in Beijing that ended on Saturday with a call for better cooperation in fighting the global financial crisis. Last week, Vice Foreign Minister Li Hui told journalists Wen would discuss the financial crisis with Putin and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev while in Russia from Monday to Thursday. "Both China and Russia have taken a lot of proactive measures to face the financial crisis," Li said. The two nations will hold energy discussions in an effort to finalise agreements ranging from nuclear power to oil and gas, according to Li. He refused to specify the documents to be signed during the visit but said the two sides were still working on a nuclear power plant agreement for the second phase of the Tianwan atomic installation in east China. Plans have been drawn up for a pipeline spur linking China to Russia's 4,700 kilometre (2,900 miles) trans-Siberian pipeline, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying Sunday. China has jockeyed with Japan for access to oil from the partially built pipeline, which is designed to link Siberian oil fields to Russia's Pacific coast with a length of over 4,700 kilometres (2,900 miles). The projected spur to the Chinese border would be relatively short at 67 kilometres and would cement Russian-Chinese energy cooperation after years of hesitation by Moscow, a rival of Beijing during the Cold War. The SCO meeting to be held in the Kazakh capital of Astana on October 30, grouping leaders from Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, will focus on fighting terrorism and boosting trade, Li said. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com French minister opposes Georgia, Ukraine entry to NATO Strasbourg (AFP) Oct 22, 2008 France's minister for European affairs on Wednesday said he was opposed to Georgia and Ukraine entering the NATO military alliance for now because it would not benefit Europe. |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |