China and Russia are good neighborly countries with a long history of friendship between the two peoples, Liu said at the ceremony.

    The enhancement of China-Russia friendly cooperation will not only be beneficial for the people of the two countries, but also exert significant influence on world peace and the advancement of humankind as a whole, Liu said.

    Humanitarian cooperation is of special importance among the various fields in which China and Russia carry out cooperation, she noted.

    The fruitful cooperation in education, culture, health care, sports, tourism and media will deepen the understanding between the two peoples and the youth, and thus the concept of "friendship for generations" would take firm root in the hearts of both peoples, Liu said.

    Moscow University is world famous and plays an important role in facilitating the development of Sino-Russian friendship, she said.

    The Confucius Institute, con-founded by Moscow University and Peking University, provides a new platform for Russian students to learn Chinese, as well as for the exchange of language education between the two countries, Liu said.

    During the day, Liu also paid an visit to Moscow 1948 middle school, which features Chinese language education.

    She hailed the contribution the school has made to the interaction between youth of the two countries, and hoped that the teachers and students would learn more in the upcoming reciprocal theme years of the Chinese and Russian languages.

    Liu believed the language years, the "Year of Russian Language" in China in 2009 and the "Year of the Chinese Language" in Russia in 2010, would certainly boost the humanitarian cooperation between the two countries.

    Liu arrived here Saturday at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov. On Sunday, she attended the ninth session of a China-Russia committee on humanitarian cooperation.