China, Russia pledge to boost 'practical' economic co-op

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev during a welcoming ceremony for Medvedev before they co-chair the 18th regular meeting between the Chinese and Russian heads of government in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 22, 2013. (Xinhua/Liu Jiansheng)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev met in Beijing on Tuesday and pledged to further boost practical economic cooperation between the two countries.

"(We) reached many new consensuses on further advancing practical cooperation, especially on large-scale projects," Li told reporters after the 18th regular meeting between the Chinese and Russian heads of government held at the downtown Great Hall of the People.

The regular meeting mechanism, launched in 1996, is an important platform to outline cooperation between the two countries.

Energy cooperation is one of the major topics Li and Medvedev discussed on Tuesday.

"Energy cooperation between China and a third party will not affect the cooperation between China and Russia," Li said, adding that the China-Russia energy cooperation is of long-term strategic significance.

During Tuesday's meeting, the two heads of government also witnessed the signing of an array of cooperation documents, including some business deals.

"We both think that business cooperation plays an irreplaceable role and there is even more immense potential for it," said the Chinese premier.

Li said that with concerted efforts from both sides, China and Russia can tap the cooperation potential through innovative means and expand bilateral trade and mutual investment in the coming years.

The Chinese premier said he is confident that the two countries will fulfill the 100 billion U.S. dollar trade target in 2015.

Medvedev told reporters that the two heads of government agreed to innovate means of economic cooperation and step up mutual investment between the two countries.