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July 9, 2008: President Hu Jintao and President Dmitry Medvedev meet in Toyako, Hokkaido, on the sidelines of the G8 summit. The two agree to promote bilateral strategic and cooperative partnership, and express their determination to give priority to the development of a long-term and steady partnership. July 17, 2008: One hundred Chinese children affected by a devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province arrive in the Kemerovo region to spend three weeks in a regional children recreation center. A total of 1,000 Chinese children from the quake area would go to Russian resorts during the third quarter. July 21-22, 2008: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visits China and signs with his counterpart Yang Jiechi the “Additional Protocol-Description of the Line of the Russian-Chinese State Border in its Eastern Part,” which means the territorial issue between Russia and China has been finally resolved after 40 years of negotiations. In Beijing, Lavrov also meets President Hu Jintao. July 25, 2008: Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Council of the Foreign Ministers meets in Dushanbe, Tajikistan to finalize documents for the annual SCO summit, including the drafts of the Dushanbe Declaration, a new mechanism for the SCO to interface with “dialogue partners,” an agreement to establish an expert group for the development of criteria of adopting new members, and an agreement on fighting terrorism and illegal circulation of arms. July 26-7, 2008: Vice Premier Igor Sechin visits China to launch a new mechanism of China-Russia energy negotiations. Sechin meets Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Vice Premier Wang Qishan and managers of the China National Petrochemical Corporation and the China Nuclear Industry Corporation. Aug. 7-8, 2008: In response to Georgian attacks on Ossetian separatists, Russian troops invade and occupy South Ossetia and from there launch attacks into Georgia proper. Aug. 7-9, 2008: Prime Minister Putin visits Beijing. In addition to attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Putin holds “informal talks” with President Hu, Premier Wen, and former President Jiang Zemin. Aug. 17-18, 2008: Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev visits Beijing and meets State Councilor Dai Bingguo to discuss bilateral, regional, and international issues including the situation in the Caucasus. China-Russia Relations 138 October 2008 Aug. 27, 2008: Presidents Medvedev and Hu meet on the sideline of the SCO summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. They discuss the situations in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Aug. 28, 2008: The 8th annual SCO summit is held in Dushanbe. Russia assumes chairmanship until the next session of the Council of SCO Heads of State in Yekaterinburg, Russia in 2009. Aug. 28, 2008: Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin meets Chinese Ambassador to Russia Liu Guchang and informs Liu about Russia’s decision to recognize independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Sept. 3-4, 2008: The SCO conducts the 2nd phase of the “Volgograd Anti-Terror 2008” antiterrorist exercise in Russia’s Volgograd. The goal is to practice teamwork between the units from each SCO member state. Sept. 11, 2008: SCO’s Business Council holds a session in the East-Siberian city of Irkutsk chaired by Dmitry Mezentsev, the Council’s president. The participants discuss issues of setting up a SCO energy club, public health, insurance, and social security of population of the member-states, as well as a SCO university. Sept. 25, 2008: Vice Premier Wang Qishan separately meets in Beijing chiefs of the delegations to the first SCO Economic and Trade Ministerial Meeting. Wang propose three principles for promoting regional economic cooperation: promoting investment and trade facilitation in a down-to-earth manner, building networks to promote economic convergence, and encouraging enterprises to carry out exchanges and strengthen cooperation in pooling capital. Sept. 27, 2008: Foreign Minister Yang meets Foreign Minister Lavrov in New York City during the 63rd UN General Assembly. The two discussed bilateral, regional and global issues.