MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian and Chinese leaders will meet in Moscow on July 1 to discuss ways to step up cooperation in the high-tech sphere, particularly reciprocal equipment shipments, a Kremlin official said Thursday. "Russia is becoming an increasingly important market for China's equipment, telecommunications, consumer electronics, electrical appliances, cars, and industrial equipment," he said. Russia, for its part, is interested in increasing exports of equipment for nuclear and other power plants, civil aircraft, the mining industry and other kinds of equipment to China.
"Cooperation in the sphere of environment protection deserves particular attention," he said.
The official said monitoring water bodies, establishing nature reserves, protecting forests and other biological resources in border areas were among the top priority areas of cooperation for the two countries.
Economic cooperation remains a crucial issue in bilateral relations.
Last year, bilateral trade predictably exceeded the figure of $20 billion set by the presidents. This year, commodity turnover has also been dynamic.
The Kremlin official said Russia and China had advanced considerably in cooperation in the sphere of high technology and innovation, and in the banking sector. Russia and China's business communities have displayed growing interest in joint projects.
The two countries have begun drafting a medium-term program to intensify bilateral trade and economic cooperation for the period from 2006 to 2010.
Russia and China have embarked on a series of major projects to attract Chinese investment into the Russian economy that were outlined at a bilateral investment forum in Khabarovsk, Siberia, last year.
An investment forum in St. Petersburg on June 9-10 this year provided further incentives for investing in Russian regions, particularly, European ones.
