Sino-Russia To Play Major Role In World Security, Medvedev Says

Beijing, China (AHN) - Russia's new President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday that the world cannot ignore his country's relationship with China.

Speaking on the last day of a visit to China at Peking University, Medvedev said on his first foreign trip as president that Moscow and Beijing are going to work together to shape global security.

"Russian-Chinese cooperation has today emerged as a key factor in international security, without which it is impossible for the international community to take major decisions," Medvedev was quoted saying by AFP news agency.

"Maybe not everybody likes the strategic cooperation between our two countries, but we understand that this cooperation is in the interest of our people and we will boost it whether or not it pleases some people," he added.

Medvedev, who was sworn in on May 7 this year, made a statement after he met with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday and issued a joint statement condemning U.S. missile defense plans.

China and Russia, who were rivals during the Cold war-era, have forged ties at different levels including political, military and commercial in the wake of single power dominance by the U.S. after the Soviet Union collapsed.

To bolster ties between Sino-Russia, Moscow signed a $1 billion deal to build a fuel enrichment facility and supply uranium with China, providing a major boost to the country's emerging nuclear power industry

On the other hand, China is also important to Russia economically as the political analysts have projected the bilateral trade between the two countries to reach 80 billion by 2010.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Hu Jintao has reportedly accepted Russian President Medvedev's invitation to visit Russia in the year 2009.