No contracts to be signed at Russia-China commission meeting.

23/11 Tass 128

MOSCOW, November 23 (Itar-Tass) - Representatives of the Russian and
Chinese defense ministries will discuss at the upcoming meeting of the
intergovernmental commission on military-technical cooperation joint
projects in all aspects of interaction in the given area, Mikhail
Dmitriyev, the director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical
Cooperation, taking part in the commission's meeting, told Itar-Tass on
Monday.

"At the meeting we will discuss calmly and in a planned way all the
promising projects, without singling out any of them, in every aspect of
our cooperation - aircraft construction, engines, ships, air defenses,
armored vehicles. There is no expectation of any breakthrough decisions
and signing of contracts. The final protocol will be signed upon the
conclusion of the commission's work," the director of the federal service
said.
He pointed out that Russia and China "have been maintaining normal
military-technical cooperation over many years, and its volume is huge."
"In accordance with the arrangements reached at the previous meeting of
the commission in Beijing last December, this cooperation not just
continues but achieves a higher, new qualitative level. There exit not
just buyer-seller relations but post-sale maintenance of armaments and
equipment, their licensed production and joint development of high-tech
military products," he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported the commission's meeting will be
co-chaired by Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Deputy
Chairman of the General Military Council of the PRC, Colonel -General Guo
Boxiong, who arrived in Russia on a visit on Monday at the head of the
Chinese military delegation.
-0-saf/gor