On May 7, 2008, Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a message to Dmitry Medvedev to congratulate him on his inauguration as Russian president.

In his message, the Chinese president extended his warm congratulations and best wishes to Medvedev and expressed the confidence that Russia will score new and greater achievements on its path to development and prosperity under Medvedev's leadership.

China and Russia are the largest neighbors and close friends of each other, Hu said in the message. Developing the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries conforms to the fundamental interests of both nations and their peoples, and is also important to safeguarding peace and security of the region and the world at large, and promoting common development and prosperity, Hu said. It is the shared responsibility and mission of China and Russia to ensure the steady and healthy development of their strategic cooperative partnership, Hu said. The Chinese president also expressed his readiness to work with Medvedev to deepen mutual political trust between the two countries, deepen pragmatic cooperation and strengthen strategic coordination in international and regional affairs in accordance with the principles and directions set forth in the Sino-Russian Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, in a bid to push their strategic cooperative partnership to a higher level for the benefit of both countries and their peoples.