Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Liang Guanglie met here Tuesday with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, and the two sides agreed to strengthen their strategic partnership, according to Xinhua.
At the meeting, Liang said that relations between China and Ukraine have achieved healthy and stable progress since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992.
Liang said that Beijing-Kiev relations have featured frequent high-level visits, strengthened political mutual trust and fruitful pragmatic cooperation in various field, and that military relationship plays an important role in bilateral ties.
China is ready to work with Ukraine to expand the scope of military cooperation, Liang said.
Yanukovych, for his part, said that frequent high-level exchanges, political mutual support and effective implementation of economic cooperation projects between Ukraine and China have greatly enhanced the two countries' strategic partnership.
Yanukovych said the Ukrainian side attaches importance to bilateral military exchanges and cooperation and is willing to seek a even closer and meaningful military relationship.
Liang also met Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov Tuesday. A day earlier, he held a bilateral talk with Ukrainian Defense Minister Pavlo Lebedyev.
