Russia and China have agreed to further tap cooperation potential so as to boost economic and trade ties despite the impact of the global economic crisis. The agreement was reached during a meeting on Thursday between Russian Minister of Regional Development Viktor Basargin and Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui on bilateral economic and trade ties, especially cross-border and regional cooperation. Basargin and Li agreed that the global economic crisis had a negative impact on bilateral economic cooperation, citing a sharp decline in two-way trade. However, they believed that the foundation for bilateral cooperation remained solid. In particular, bilateral investment and economic cooperation have gained strong momentum, and cooperation in such areas as energy, nuclear technology and high- tech have been strengthened. During the meeting, they also said that cross-border and regional cooperation had become an increasingly important part of the China-Russia strategic partnership of cooperation, and played a key role in facilitating regional development and improving the two peoples' welfare. An outline of regional cooperation between Northeast China and the Russian Far East Area and Eastern Siberia, approved by leaders of both countries in 2009, served as guidelines for deepening bilateral cooperation, they said, adding that both sides would cooperate closely and earnestly implement the document in a bid to achieve new accomplishments. They also discussed some specific issues related to cross-border and regional cooperation. 