Xi Jinping intends to strengthen ties with Russia
Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Beijing and noted the revival of bilateral trade and expressed hope that Sino-Russian relations would be maintained and enhanced.
This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrinform.
At the beginning of the talks, Xi said that this year he had met twice with Russian President Vladimir Putin and noted active communication between the governments, legislatures and local authorities of the two countries.
"In the first eleven months of this year, bilateral trade between China and Russia reached US$200 billion, showing strong resilience and broad prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries," Xi said.
He added that the Chinese economy has strong resilience and great potential, and that China's openness and high-quality development create new opportunities for various countries, including Russia, to develop.
"China supports the Russian people in choosing their own path of development... and the preservation and enhancement of Sino-Russian relations is a strategic choice of both countries based on the fundamental interests of their peoples," the Chinese leader said.
He expressed hope that next year's 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia would be "a new starting point for jointly moving forward and comprehensively promoting economic and social development and realising national revival".
"Xi called on the two sides to make full use of the advantages of political mutual trust, economic complementarity, infrastructure connectivity and people-to-people exchanges and deepen cooperation in economy, trade and energy, and jointly maintain the security and stability of industrial and supply chains," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
