Chronologies
China - Russia
Chronology from Apr 2007 to Jul 2007
: Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi visits Russia at the invitation of his counterpart Sergei Lavrov to “review the entire spectrum of international problems” including the Six-Party Talks on the DPRK nuclear issue, bilateral relations, and the upcoming joint military exercise in August. Yang met President Putin July 13.
: The 2nd Sino-Russian inter-ministerial financial dialogue is held in Moscow to discuss how to maintain macroeconomic balance and sustained growth against the backdrop of global economic imbalance including the U.S. dollar dependence of both the Russian and Chinese economies.
: The Sino-Russian energy sub-commission, part of the preparation for the annual prime ministerial meetings, meets in Beijing. Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko says the construction of a branch to China of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline is due to begin in 2008. The branch line will carry 30 million tons of oil annually and be financed and most likely constructed by China.
: The Council of SCO foreign ministers meets in Bishkek to discuss preparations for the SCO summit in August. It approves the agenda for the summit including the text for the “Friendly Treaty” and agrees to step up contacts with SCO observer states and broaden the activity of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group.
: Gu Xiulian, president of the All-China Women’s Federation and vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, visits Moscow and meets Boris Gryzlov, chairman of the State Duma, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Gu was part of an 80-member delegation for the 4th China-Russia Women’s Culture Week.
: Presidents George W. Bush and Putin hold U.S.-Russia summit in Kennebunkport, Maine.
: SCO’s fourth defense ministerial meeting held in Bishkek. A Joint Communiqué is issued and the ministers sign an agreement for the joint military exercise in Russia in August.
: Gazprom deputy chief executive Alexander Ananenkov tells reports that if talks with China are not completed, the start of the Altai pipeline project could be delayed a year.
: Russian Finance Ministry confirms transfer of funds from the Delta Banco Asia to North Korea was completed via Dalkombank.
: BBC News reports that Gazprom has asked the Kremlin to cancel an agreement to pipe 80 billion cubic meters of gas a year from ExxonMobil’s Sakhalin-1 project.
: The 18th International Trade and Economic Fair held in Harbin, China.
: The Sino-Russian Sub-commission for sports cooperation held its seventh meeting in Moscow. A protocol is signed and China agrees to provide support and convenience for the Russian Olympic team for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
: Anatoly Chubais, head of Unified Energy System of Russia, argues that Russia-to-China gas exports at the expense of Russian consumers are “a strategic mistake” and “must be re-examined.”
: The Russian-Chinese Youth Games opens in Moscow as part of the Year of China. Some 88 Chinese athletes compete in basketball, handball, springboard diving, synchronized swimming, martial arts, and other sport.
: President Hu Jintao sends a congratulatory message to Vladimir Putin for Russia’s national day.
: Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs Richard Boucher during his visit to Kyrgyzstan states that the Manas air base was a bilateral issue between the U.S. and Kyrgyzstan and that the SCO should not discuss this issue..
: World Economic Forum Russia CEO Roundtable is held in St. Petersburg. Putin and top Russian economic officials meet over 100 chief executives of foreign businesses doing business in Russia.
: St. Petersburg “Shanghai Week” begins in Russia as part of “China Year” festivities.
: Vice Premier Wu Yi pays an official visit to Russia at the invitation of Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev. She attends the 11th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and activities related to the Year of China, including St. Petersburg’s “Shanghai Week” (June 9-16).
: Eleventh St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is held in Russia.
: Presidents Putin and Hu Jintao meet during the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany. They discussed bilateral cooperation in SCO’s framework.
: Russian and Chinese FMs Lavrov and Yang meet on the sidelines of the third Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Seoul and discuss the planned deployment by the U.S. of missile defense elements in Eastern Europe, in addition to other bilateral, regional and international issues.
: China’s National Development and Reform Commission Vice Chairman Chen Deming visits Ashgabat, Turkmenistan to implement the China-Turkmenistan gas contract signed April 3, 2006.
: The Sino-Russian Committee of Friendship, Peace, and Development opens its seventh plenary meeting in Moscow. It adopts the 2007 plan for more than 60 activities of humanism, business, local cooperation, exchanges, etc.
: SCO conducts Issyk-Kul-Antiterror-2007 exercise at the Edelveis training ground near Balykchy in Kyrgyzstan.
: A political forum is held in Moscow at the initiative of the United Russia Party and the Chinese Communist Party. Part of the Year of China in Russia, the forum addresses the two countries’ relations from a global and regional perspective. Wang Lequan, member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and Secretary of the Communist Party of China of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, leads the Chinese group. His Russian host is United Russia leader Boris Gryzlov.
: Fifth Russian-Chinese working group on media cooperation meets in Beijing. A protocol calls on the two countries’ media outlets “to take active part” in the events of China Year in Russia in 2007 and guarantee “full and impartial coverage.”
: SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure group produces a list of 39 terrorist, separatist, and extremist organizations operating in SCO countries.
: Third conference for SCO member states’ security councils is held in Bishkek. Russia’s Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov and deputy Security Council Secretary and deputy public security minister Meng Hongwei join.
: First unit at Russian-built Tianwan nuclear power plant is commissioned for commercial operation. The second unit had a test run May 1 and is expected to be online at year’s end.
: The Sino-Russian transportation subcommittee under the Chinese-Russian Prime Ministers’ regular meeting commission meets in Moscow.
: The fourth round of consultations of SCO military experts on organizing the Peace Mission-2007 drill is held in the Chinese city of Urumchi. China’s Deputy Chief of the General Staff Zhang Qinsheng hosts; Russian delegation is headed by Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Land Forces Col. Gen. Vladimir Moltenskoi.
: Russian State Duma (the lower house of Parliament) Chairman Boris Gryzlov visits China for the second meeting of the Russian-Chinese parliamentary commission. Gryzlov meets Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Wu Bangguo, President Hu Jintao, and Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Jia Qinglin.
: Energy summit is held in Warsaw, Poland to reduce Azerbaijani, Georgian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Kazakh dependence on Russian energy. Kazakhstan president pulls out of the meeting to meet Putin and sends a representative in his stead.
: Putin visits Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Russia-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan talks are held on May 12 to discuss upgrades to existing Soviet-era energy infrastructures.
: China’s FM Yang Jiechi meets Russian FM Sergei Lavrov at Sharm El-sheikh on the sidelines of an international meeting on Iraq’s security. The two discuss bilateral relations including the Year of China in Russia, the SCO, and other major international issues.
: Yang Jiechi is named China’s new foreign minister.
: President Hu Jintao sends condolences to President Putin over the death of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin on April 23 at the age of 76.
: Russia’s first President Boris Yeltsin passes away.
: SCO military experts conduct the third-round of talks for the August anti-terrorism military exercise Peace Mission-2007 to be held in Chelyabinsk. Consensus is reached on issues concerning logistics and scheme. Chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Yury Baluyevsky and Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese military Zhang Qinsheng attend.
: SCO holds its second chief justice conference in St. Petersburg. SCO top judges pledge to strengthen cooperation in cracking down on extremist and drug-related crimes. A declaration on judicial cooperation is signed.
: The Year of the Russian Language in China opens at Beijing University of Foreign Languages. This includes a composition competition, photo exhibition, filmed works of Russian classical literature, roundtable discussion, scientific conference, and concert. It is sponsored by the Chinese Association of Teachers of the Russian Language and Literature, Institute of the Russian Language at Beijing University of Foreign Languages, and the Russian-Chinese Friendship Society.
: Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Secretary General Bolat Nurgaliyev in an Itar-Tass interview says that the SCO is keen on seeing Turkmenistan more active in regional capacity building. Turkmenistan is not a member of the SCO.