Charter for the regular meetings of the Russian and Chinese heads of Government
The charter for the regular meetings of the Russian and Chinese heads of government was established in December of 1996. On June 27, 1997, an agreement was signed between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the People's Republic of China that would create and outline the organisational principles of a charter to govern the regular meetings between the Russian and Chinese heads of government (hereafter cited as the Agreement).
The charter governs the following agencies:
I. The Russian-Chinese commission charged with preparing for the regular meetings of the heads of government;
II. The Russian-Chinese commission for cultural cooperation.
The commissions convene once a year. According to the Agreement, an official with the rank of deputy prime minister or the equivalent must head each nation's delegations to the commissions. The Russian delegations to both commissions are headed by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov. Vice-Premier Wang Qishan leads the Chinese delegation to the commission charged with preparing for the regular meetings of the heads of government, and Liu Yandong, Vice-Chairman of CPPCC, leads the delegation to the commission for cultural cooperation.
The Russian Ministry of Economic Development and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce ensure that the secretariat of the commission charged with preparing for the regular meetings of the heads of government carries out its responsibilities. Deputy Minister of Economic Development Andrei Slepnev heads the work of the Russian part of the Commission's secretariat.
III. The Russian-Chinese Energy Forum. The forum is headed by officials with the rank of deputy prime minister or the equivalent, specifically Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan.
On May 23, 2008, in the course of negotiations, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao agreed to initiate the energy forum. In a telephone conversation on May 27, 2008, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao agreed to include the energy forum in the charter of the regular meetings of the heads of government.
During the first round of the energy forum, which was held on July 26, 2008, it was decided that the forum would also cover all issues requiring bilateral cooperation in the energy industry, including in the nuclear power industry.
The charter establishes 18 sub-commissions and a task force for cooperation on archive-keeping issues, all of which meet annually. The commission charged with preparing for the regular meetings of the heads of government oversees the following sub-commissions and task forces*:
1. The sub-commission on cooperation in trade and the economy
The head of the Russian delegation is Elvira Nabiullina, the Minister of Economic Development.
The head of the Chinese delegation is Chen Deming, the Minister of Commerce.
The following permanent task forces operate under the auspices of this sub-commission:
1) A task force dealing with cooperation in investment;
2) A task force dealing with cooperation on trade and the economy in areas near the Russian-Chinese border;
3) A task force dealing with cooperation in copyright protection;
4) A task force dealing with issues concerning special economic zones;
5) A task force dealing with standardization, metrology, licensing and inspection control;
6) A task force dealing with the use of forest resources. The Russian delegation to this task force is led by Ivan Materov, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade.
2. The sub-commission on cooperation in science and technology
The head of the Russian delegation is Sergei Mazurenko, Head of the Federal Agency for Science and Innovation.
The head of the Chinese delegation is Shang Yong, the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology.
The sub-commission includes three task forces:
1) A task force fostering cooperation between Russian government-run research centres and leading Chinese government-run research and development centres;
2) A task force fostering innovative cooperation;
3) A task force dealing with high technology and innovation.
3. The sub-commission on cooperation in the energy industry
The head of the Russian delegation is Sergei Shmatko, the Minister of Energy.
The head of the Chinese delegation is Zhang Ping, the Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission.
4. The sub-commission on transport cooperation
The head of the Russian delegation is Igor Levitin, the Minister of Transport.
The head of the Chinese delegation is Liu Zhijun, the Minister of Railways.
The sub-commission is composed of the following task forces:
1) A task force dealing with checkpoints;
2) A task force dealing with marine, river and automobile transport and highways;
3) A task force dealing with railway transport;
4) A task force dealing with marine and river transport;
5) A task force dealing with transit.
5. The sub-commission on nuclear issues
The head of the Russian delegation is Sergei Kiriyenko, the Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.
The head of the Chinese delegation is Chen Qiufa, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Information Technology.
The sub-commission includes the following task forces:
1) A task force fostering cooperation in science and technology;
2) A task force on conversion; 3) A task force dealing with issues in the construction of an experimental fast-neutron reactor.
6. The sub-commission on inter-bank cooperation
The head of the Russian delegation is Viktor Melnikov, the Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia.
The head of the Chinese delegation is Ma Delun, the Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China.
7. The sub-commission on space cooperation
The head of the Russian delegation to this sub-commission is Anatoly Perminov, the Head of the Federal Space Agency.
The head of the Chinese delegation is Sun Laiyan, Deputy Head of the State Administration for Science, Technology and industry for National Defense. The commission oversees a joint task force for the study of the moon and deep space.
8. The sub-commission on communications and information technology
The head of the Russian delegation is Naum Marder, the Deputy Minister of Communications and Mass Media.
The head of the Chinese delegation is Xi Guohua, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Information Technology.
The sub-commission comprises the following task forces:
1) A task force fostering cooperation in mobile communications;
2) A task force fostering cooperation in telecommunications;
3) A task force fostering cooperation between postal services;
4) A task force dealing with synchronising radio frequencies;
5) A task force dealing with information technology issues.
9. The sub-commission on cooperation in civil aviation and the civil aircraft industry
The head of the Russian delegation is Denis Manturov, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade. The head of the Chinese delegation is Miao Wei, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Information Technology.
The sub-commission includes five task forces:
1) A task force fostering cooperation in civilian aircraft production;
2) A task force fostering cooperation in helicopter production;
3) A task force fostering cooperation in propulsion engineering;
4) A task force fostering scientific cooperation;
5) A task force dealing with materials and technology.
10. The sub-commission on environmental cooperation
The head of the Russian delegation is Yury Trutnev, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.
The head of the Chinese delegation is Zhou Shengxian, the Minister of Environmental Protection.
The sub-commission comprises the following task forces:
1) A task force for the prevention of environmental pollution and for fostering interaction during environmental emergencies;
2) A task force for protecting and monitoring the water quality of bodies of water along the Russian-Chinese border;
3) A task force dealing with issues concerning specially protected natural sites and the preservation of biodiversity.
11. The sub-commission on customs cooperation
The head of the Russian delegation is Andrei Belyaninov, the Head of the Federal Customs Service.
The head of the Chinese delegation is Sheng Guangzu, the Head of the General Administration of Customs. The Commission for cultural cooperation includes the following bodies:
1. The sub-commission for cooperation in education
The head of the Russian delegation is Nikolai Bulayev, the Head of the Federal Agency for Education.
2. The sub-commission for cultural cooperation
The head of the Russian delegation is Alexander Golutva, the Deputy Minister of Culture.
3. The sub-commission for cooperation in healthcare
The head of the Russian delegation is Nikolai Yurgel, the Head of the Federal Supervision Service for Healthcare and Social Development.
4. The sub-commission for cooperation in sports
The head of the Russian delegation is Gennady Alyoshin, the Deputy Minister of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy.
5. The sub-commission for cooperation on issues concerning tourism
The head of the Russian delegation is Anatoly Yarochkin, the Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism.
6. The sub-commission for cooperation in mass media
The head of the Russian delegation is Mikhail Seslavinsky, the Head of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Media.
7. The sub-commission for cooperation in cinema
The head of the Russian delegation is Alexander Golutva, the Deputy Minister of Culture.
8. The task force for cooperation in archive-keeping
The head of the Russian delegation is Vladimir Kozlov, the Head of the Federal Archive Agency.
The thirteenth regular meeting of the Russian and Chinese heads of government was held on October 28, 2008. The fourteenth meeting was scheduled for October 13, 2009.
*In accordance with the Agreement of June 27, 1997, the sub-commission on cooperation in the energy industry and the sub-commission on cooperation on the nuclear energy industry were set up in the framework of the Russian-Chinese Commission on the preparation for regular meetings of heads of government, but on July 26, 2008 they were included in the Russian-Chinese Energy Forum following an agreement between its co-chairpersons.
