(Beijing, July 29) The Ninth Session of the Sports Cooperation Sub-Committee of the China-Russia Cooperation Committee on Education, Culture, Health and Sports was held in Beijing on July 29, 2009. The two sides discussed issues of common interest and exchanged views on how to strengthen and promote sports exchanges and cooperation between each other.

Feng Jianzhong, Vice-Minister in charge of the General Administration of Sport and Vice-President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, gave the opening speech, saying that the year 2009, which marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Sino-Russian diplomatic relations, would also be a significant year for new development of such bilateral relations. In recent years, through mutual visits of their state leaders, China and Russia have increased political mutual trust, worked closely in international affairs and carried out exchanges and cooperation in various fields and at different levels. It is under such circumstances, particularly since the establishment of the China-Russia Cooperation Committee on Education, Culture, Health and Sports and then its Sports Cooperation Sub-Committee, that the two countries, both as sports powers in the world, have lost no time in strengthening ties in sports by learning from each other through frequent visits and exchanges between their athletes and sports workers.

Basically the meeting had six topics for discussion, namely the national policies on the development of non-Olympic sports, mechanisms of cooperation between national sports departments and individual sports associations, training of high-calibre athletes, sports legislation, the 2010 Chinese-Russian Youth Sports Games, and the 10th Session of the Sports Cooperation Sub-Committee of the China-Russia Cooperation Committee on Education, Culture, Health and Sports. Those who had delivered speeches during the meeting included Guo Jianjun, Inspector and Deputy Director of the GASC Competitive Sports Department, Zhang Jian, Director of the GASC Policy and Law Department, Zuo Zhiyong, Deputy Director of the GASC External Affairs Department, and Denis Pankratov, Chef de Mission of the Russian delegation and Director of the Competitive Sports Department, Elean Timofeeva, Chief of the Summer Sports Division, and Dmitry Dolganov, Chief of the Sports Training Division, all from Russia's Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy.

In his summing-up of the discussions, Feng Jianzhong stressed that the Chinese-Russian Youth Games, listed in the topics of the Sports Cooperation Sub-Committee Meeting since 2005 for implementing the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation signed by the two state leaders. In 2006 and 2007, the first two editions of the Chinese-Russian Youth Games were held in Russia's Moscow and China's Tianjin respectively, and the third one is being held now in Beijing. China suggested that the fourth edition of the Games be held in Russia during the 10th Session of the Sports Cooperation Sub-Committee of the China-Russia Cooperation Committee on Education, Culture, Health and Sports in 2010.

Denis Pankratov spoke highly of the Chinese-Russian Youth Sports Games currently being held in China and said Russia would like to host the next Games around July 2010. As to the final arrangements for these Games as well as the dates of the 10th Session of the China-Russia Sports Cooperation Sub-Committee, the two sides will make further discussions in the near future.

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