Chinese premier leaves Russia for home

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao left here Tuesday for home after attending the 10th prime ministers' meeting of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Before and after the meeting, the Chinese premier held talks with leaders of several countries who also came for the one-day gathering. The fruitful results of the meeting featured a joint declaration on world and regional economic situation and a joint communique on the achievements of the annual event. Wen arrived here Sunday afternoon for the meeting, which reiterated the importance of further strengthening cooperation in various fields under the SCO framework and laid a solid foundation for the development of the 10-year-old group in the coming decade. Wen put forward a nine-point proposal on furthering trade and preparing against future challenges. The SCO, founded in Shanghai in 2001, groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan are SCO observers while Belarus and Sri Lanka are dialogue partners.