On April 24, 2007, Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a message of condolences to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the death of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin. In the message, Hu, on behalf of the Chinese government and in his own name, expressed his deep condolences over the death of Yeltsin and extended his sincere sympathies to Putin, the Russian government and people and Yeltsin's family.

Describing Yeltsin as a close friend of China, Hu said while Yeltsin was Russian president, the two countries established a strategic cooperative partnership, resolved their border issues left over from history and enjoyed rapid progress in bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields. Hu said the traditional friendship between China and Russia displayed new vitality during Yeltsin's presidency. The outstanding contributions Yeltsin made to the development of the Sino-Russian friendship will go down in the annals of the friendly relations between the two countries, Hu said.