Russia, China united on Syria

BEIJING, June 5 (UPI) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday vowed to remain united on the Syrian conflict.

The two leaders made the pledge during a formal talk in China Tuesday afternoon, Xinhua reported.

Hu and Putin also called on the international community to continue supporting U.N. and Arab League delegate Kofi Annan's mediation efforts and the work of the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria in order to put an end to the violence in Syria.

Putin arrived in China Tuesday for an official visit, during which he is scheduled to attend the 12th meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, scheduled to be held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday.

China and Russia are important trading partners, with a goal to reach $200 billion in bilateral trade by 2020.

Putin, in an article for China's official People's Daily newspaper, said he was hopeful Moscow and Beijing would continue close cooperation in the energy sector, including the construction of nuclear power plants, RIA Novosti reported. The two countries have been trying to reach a 30-year deal for China to supply Russia with natural gas, CNTV said.