Russia and China look to be tying the knot..

After sixty years of development, relations between China and Russia are seen as being at their best. Let's take a brief look now at the significant moments and key features of the ties between the two countries.

One day after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Soviet Union became the first to recognize and establish diplomatic ties with the newly-born republic.

At the end of 1991, China and Russia signed an agreement under which Russia agreed to continue the former Soviet Union's diplomatic ties.

In 1996, the two countries formed a partnership of strategic cooperation. And in 2001, a treaty on good-neighborly and friendly cooperation was signed.

The steady growth of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership has benefited economic and trade cooperation.

The annual bilateral trade volume has increased from seven billion US dollars in the early 1990s to around 57 billion dollars last year.

China is Russia's third largest trading partner, while Russia is China's eleventh biggest.

Following a proposal by leaders of both countries, China and Russia have staged national theme year activities in each country. More than 500 events were held during the 2006 "Year of Russia" in China and 2007 "Year of China" in Russia.

To further consolidate cooperation, the two countries have decided to hold the "Year of Russian Language" in China in 2009 and the "Year of Chinese Language" in Russia in 2010.

It must be love.