Chinese president arrives in Moscow

Russia and China oppose the US missile defence plan

The Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin, has arrived in Moscow at the start of an official four-day visit to sign a treaty on friendship and co-operation.

[The treaty] will lay a firm foundation of long-term, healthy and stable development of the Chinese-Russian relations in the new century

Jiang Zemin

Mr Jiang said the document, which will establish the principles of a partnership to defend their interests and boost trade, would lay a lasting foundation for future Chinese relations with Russia.

Mr Jiang's talks are also expected to include American plans for new missile defences, which both Russia and China oppose.

Other issues which the two men are expected to discuss when they meet on Monday include Iraq, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr Jiang is on a 10-day tour which will also take him to Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Malta.

Missile threat

Correspondents say Jiang Zemin will be in buoyant mood, as it was in the Russian capital on Friday that Beijing was chosen as the host city for the 2008 Olympic Games.

"It is symbolic that such an important decision was made in Moscow just ahead of the historical visit by the Chinese president," Mr Putin said in a letter to Mr Jiang released by the Kremlin on Sunday.

China has been celebrating its Olympic victory

Mr Jiang knows Russia, having been a student there, and speaks Russian fluently. His acquaintance with President Putin goes back 10 years.

Beijing and Moscow have been united in their opposition to US plans to create a missile defence shield, and Mr Jiang and Mr Putin may well agree a joint statement on their objections to the project.

China and Russia are both sceptical about the threat posed to the US by countries such as Iraq and North Korea.

Hawks in their respective leaderships have suggested such a system would be employed only as part of an attack on another large country - such as China or Russia.

Russians' mistrust

In recent months, China and Russia have stressed that they have many common interests, and that minor issues such as two territorial disputes on their common border will not impede future co-operation.

But despite greatly increased trade between the two countries in recent years, an opinion poll published this week conducted amongst Russians registered a high level of mistrust of Chinese strategic intentions in Russia.

Concerns were highest among inhabitants of the Russian Far East.