On February 23, 2004, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a pre-meeting consultation with Alexander Losiukov, head of the Russian delegation to the talks and Russia's Vice Foreign Minister who had just arrived in Beijing.

Wang Yi briefed his Russian counterpart on the preparations of the meeting and major problems related. The two sides exchanged views in an in-depth manner and achieved considerable consensus on how to make the meeting successful.

The two sides agreed that during the upcoming discussion of substantive issues, the parties should show flexibility and sincerity and avoid confrontation. They believed that priority should be put on identifying the objectives and framework of the solution to the problem, which was vital to the success of the talks.