Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev met in Tashkent Thursday and declared they were ready to further advance relations between their two countries.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev, in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, on June 10, 2010. [Xinhua]

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Hu said there had been all-round progress in China-Russia relations in the first half of this year. Noting this was the two presidents' third meeting so far this year, Hu said they have reached consensus on deepening bilateral relations in many areas.

Hu met Medvedev in Moscow last month as Russia marked the 65th anniversary of its victory in World War II. Hu said the commemoration activities helped improve Russia's international status and influence and he thanked the Russian side for their hospitality.

Hu said bilateral relations would see a number of major events in the latter half of this year. He said the two countries should make good on arrangements for high-level contact in this period, including Medvedev's visit to China and the regular meeting of prime ministers of the two countries.

Hu said the coming visit to China by Medvedev would be a major event in bilateral relations and government departments were working to ensure a total success of the visit.