On August 17, 2006, the Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department of External Church Relations, Metropolitan KIRILL of Smolensk and Kaliningrad met with S.S. Razov, Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Russia in China. The meeting took place in the Beijing international airport during Metropolitan KIRILL's brief stop on his return to Moscow from Pyongyang.
The DECR Chairman told the head Russian diplomatic representation in the Chinese capital about the consecration of Orthodox temple of the Lifegiving Trinity in which took place on August 13th in Pyongyang and about the meetings with representatives of the state administration, religious and public figures.
Metropolitan KIRILL and S.S.Razov discussed plans for the Russian Orthodox Church participation in developing relations between the peoples of Russia and China, the Year of Russia in China events, and the forthcoming Year of China in Russia. They touched on matters relating to the spiritual nourishment of Orthodox compatriots living in the People's Republic of China, the development of DECR/MP interaction with the state authority of the People's Republic of China on affairs of religions and religious communities.
Attending the meeting were: DECR vice-chairman Bishop Mark of Egorevsky; DECR secretary under inter-Orthodox relations, archpriest Nikolay Balashov; senior adviser of Embassy of Russia in China E.Y.Tomikhin; the secretary of Embassy, S.A.Kovalev; DECR employees archpriest Dionisy Pozdnyaev and D.I.Petrovsky.