On Nov. 24, 2010, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council attended the opening ceremony of the Fifth China-Russia Economic and Trade Summit Forum in Moscow and delivered a speech.

Wen said the Sino-Russian relationship is currently in the best period in history and is marching toward a higher level. With the concerted efforts of governments and business communities of the two countries, the bilateral trade has been growing robustly. Trade structure has been constantly improved. Fruitful results have been achieved in cooperation in energy and resources. Transportation cooperation has been advancing vigorously. Financial cooperation has been continuously expanded. It has been proved that the Sino-Russian friendly cooperation not only conforms to the fundamental interests of both countries, but also will benefit Europe, Asia, and the world.

Wen said as major emerging economies experiencing rapid development and as important neighbors, China and Russia enjoy broad prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation. The two sides should, in a more determined and courageous spirit, expand trade and economic cooperation to wider areas and upgrade it to a higher level for greater benefits of the people. Wen put forward the following proposals. First, to expand bilateral trade volume. The two countries should expand open markets, accelerate the construction of modern logistics and trading platforms, and increase trade facilitation. Second, to strengthen two-way investment cooperation. The two sides should speed up the implementation of the Outline of Sino-Russian Investment Cooperation Plan approved by the heads of state of the two countries, and further leverage the mechanism of the Sino-Russian investment promotion conference. The two countries should improve the quality and level of investment cooperation, and strengthen cooperation in investment and financing. Third, to deepen cooperation in technology and innovation. The two countries should focus on implementing big technology and innovation projects such as heavy-lift helicopters, uranium enrichment, and experimental fast reactor and identify a number of new cooperation projects as early as possible. The two countries should strengthen joint research on fundamental and key scientific and technological areas and cutting-edge technologies, and promote exchanges and cooperation between bilateral high-tech development parks and innovation parks. Fourth, to expand economic cooperation between neighboring areas. The two countries should include economic cooperation in border areas into the strategic priorities of bilateral economic cooperation, and take the cooperation in trade, investment and technology to a new level. The two countries should speed up the development of cross-border transport and port infrastructure and crack down on the "gray customs clearance". The two countries should steadily promote the utilization and protection of trans-boundary water resources, and actively implement the outline of the plan for regional cooperation between northeast China and the Far East and Eastern Siberia areas of Russia.

Wen said China is developing the Twelfth Five-Year Plan for economic and social development. China's development in the coming five years is bound to bring much more business opportunities to companies around the world including Russian companies. He believed entrepreneurs of both countries will be able to grasp the opportunity and work sincerely together to take bilateral economic and trade relations to a new level and write a new chapter for mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation between China and Russia.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan, State Councilor Liu Yandong, and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov also attended the opening ceremony.

The China-Russia Economic and Trade Summit Forum was jointly hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Russian Ministry for Economic Development. The theme of this session is pragmatic cooperation between China and Russia in various fields in the post-crisis era. More than 700 entrepreneurs from China and Russia attended this session of the forum.