On August 27, 2008, Chinese President Hu Jintao met in Dushanbe with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, who is here for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

With support from the international community including Russia, the Beijing Olympic Games were successfully held earlier this month, Hu said, expressing appreciation for the support and assistance received from the Russian government and people in the Olympics preparing and hosting process. Hu congratulated the Russian athletes on their excellent performances during the Games. He reiterated that China will firmly support Russia in hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics in its Black Sea resort of Sochi, expressing China's willingness to deepen exchanges and cooperation with Russia on the organization and security of the games.

Medvedev warmly congratulated on the success the Beijing Olympiad, in which Chinese athletes bagged 51 gold medals to top the medal tally, noting that good organization has made the Games an excellent event and unique in Olympic history. He also praised the performances of Russian athletes.

Invited by Medvedev, some 1,000 Chinese students affected by the earthquake that hit China's Sichuan province on May 12 went to Russia recently for rehabilitation, which was well received by people from all walks of life in the two countries. "I believe those students will grow up as the introducers of the Chinese-Russian friendship and successors of such a relation," Hu said. President Hu appreciated Russia's precious aid after the May 12 devastating earthquake.

On bilateral relations, Hu said the China-Russia partnership of strategic cooperation has maintained a sound momentum of development. Not long ago, both sides exchanged in-depth views on major issues of Sino-Russian energy negotiation mechanism and cooperation and discussed the operation of Sino-Russian strategic security negotiation mechanism as well as the topics and ways of the third round of such talks. The smooth operation of the above two mechanisms and other mechanisms between the two countries will enhance political trust, strengthen strategic coordination and play an important role in elevating the level of bilateral strategic cooperative partnership.

Medvedev hailed the smooth development of bilateral relations and rapidly growing cooperation in all areas, adding that the large cooperation projects are progressing well. Energy cooperation has been expanding and both sides have established a mechanism in this field, he noted, saying to carry out substantial cooperation with China is an important direction in Russia's external cooperation. Russia hopes to sign a new implementation outline of the Russia-China Good-neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with China at an early date to deepen bilateral cooperation in all fields.

On the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Hu stressed that the SCO is embracing new opportunities and also confronted with challenges. He suggested that China and Russia work along with other SCO members to enhance coordination and push forward the cooperation in politics, trade, economy and security within the SCO. Russian-Chinese cooperation plays an important role in the development of Central Asia, Medvedev said, noting Russia will strengthen coordination and cooperation with China within the SCO in a bid to jointly preserve peace and stability in the region.

Medvedev briefed Hu on the issue of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as Russia's position. The Chinese president said China has noticed the latest developments in the region, expecting all sides concerned to properly settle the issue through dialogue and coordination.

Ling Jihua, Wang Huning and Dai Bingguo attended the meeting.