MOSCOW: The strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin is the strongest guarantee for deepening China-Russia cooperation and sustaining the long-standing friendship between the two countries, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, said during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Friday local time.
According to a release from the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Saturday, Ding first conveyed President Xi’s warm greetings and best wishes to President Putin.
Ding, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that not long ago, at President Putin’s invitation, President Xi visited Russia and attended the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War. During the visit, the two leaders engaged in in-depth strategic communication, laying out new top-level plans for the next phase of China-Russia relations.
Elaborating on the significance of the strategic guidance of President Xi and President Putin, Ding said that it also represents the greatest certainty for both countries to jointly address various uncertainties on the path ahead. China is willing to work with Russia to continuously strengthen political mutual trust, tighten bonds of shared interests, expand trade and investment, deepen practical cooperation in the energy sector, advance the construction of relevant projects, and support each other’s development and revitalization, Ding noted.
Ding underscored that as the international landscape undergoes profound changes, China and Russia should uphold strong and comprehensive strategic coordination to uphold international justice, support the multilateral trading system centered on the WTO, jointly safeguard the stability of global industrial and supply chains, and deepen multilateral cooperation through platforms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS. Together, the two countries can make new and greater contributions to promoting a more equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial, inclusive economic globalization, Ding said.
Putin, for his part, asked Ding to convey his sincere greetings to President Xi and welcomed Ding’s attendance at the 28th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Putin noted that despite external difficulties and challenges, Russia-China relations have developed comprehensively and reached an unprecedented level. He expressed Russia’s willingness to further strengthen practical cooperation with China and jointly create a better future for both countries and the world.
Putin said he looks forward to visiting China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin and events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
