Strengthening Sino-Russian ties
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam CNN Senior China Analyst
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Ivanov, right shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Cao.
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HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Sino-Russian military ties have been boosted with a visit to Moscow by China's defense minister that resulted in agreements to buy at least $2 billion worth of Russian weapons next year.
Defense Minister General Cao Gangchuan, the only Communist Party Politburo member who was educated in the former Soviet Union, is a keen advocate for close defense relations with Moscow.
Russian and Chinese media have reported that in a week-long visit beginning last Thursday, General Cao met with President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov.
The Xinhua News Agency quoted Kasyanov as telling General Cao that Russian-Chinese military cooperation not only benefited people in the two countries but would "help maintain regional peace and stability and that of the world."
And in a telephone conversation with Putin last weekend, Chinese President Hu Jintao said Sino-Russian defense ties were "conducive to fostering global and regional peace and stability."
General Cao, together with the Head of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Equipment Department General Li Jinai, also toured a number of weapons manufacturing plants.
The Interfax news agency in Moscow reported that Generals Cao and Li were interested in new models of the ultra-modern Sukkoi jetfighters.
Diplomatic sources said Generals Cao and Ivanov had reached basic agreements on Chinese purchases of Russian arms in the coming couple of years.
China is Moscow's largest weapons purchaser, and in the past three years alone, the PLA has procured more than 70 Sukkoi aircraft.
The diplomatic sources said with the European Union having last week decided to maintain an existing ban on exporting defense-related hi-tech equipment to China, Beijing's reliance of Russia has become more pronounced.
In his visit to the U.S. earlier this year, Premier Wen Jiabao also failed to persuade the White House to lift the 13-year-old embargo on hi-tech transfers to China.
