Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Tuesday. They held sincere, friendly and fruitful talks on bilateral ties and major regional and international issues of mutual interest, and reached important new understandings in many areas.

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edited by | Hugh Gay
China news section
March 23, 2023 - MOSCOW (Xinhua)

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      The two sides agreed to follow the principles of good neighborliness, friendship, and mutually beneficial cooperation in promoting exchanges and cooperation in various fields and deepening the comprehensive strategic coordination partnership for a new era.

Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Russia are each other's biggest neighbors and that strengthening and developing long-term good neighborly relations with Russia is in line with China's historical logic and strategic choice, which will not change no matter what happens.

Since his first state visit to Russia 10 years ago, China and Russia have enjoyed mutual respect, trust, and mutual benefit, Xi said, adding that relations between the two countries are strengthening, showing signs of an all-round character. , more practical and strategic.

No matter how the international landscape may change, China will remain committed to advancing the Sino-Russian comprehensive strategic partnership and coordination in the new era, Xi said, adding that this state visit to Russia is a journey of friendship, cooperation, and peace. China is willing to work with Russia to build on past achievements, enrich the comprehensive strategic coordination partnership for the new era, bring more benefits to the two peoples, and contribute more to human progress.

Xi Jinping and Putin listened to the reports of the heads of relevant government departments of the two countries on cooperation in various fields.

Through joint efforts, China and Russia have deepened political mutual trust, the convergence of interests, and mutual understanding between peoples, Xi said, adding that their cooperation in areas such as the economy and trade, investment, energy, people, and cultural exchanges and at the subnational level made constant progress. There is a growing number of areas and an even stronger consensus for cooperation.

Noting that Sino-Russian cooperation has significant potential and space, as well as being strategic, reliable, and stable, Xi Jinping said both sides need to strengthen overall coordination, expand trade in traditional areas such as energy, resources, and electromechanical products, constantly improve relationships. sustainability of production and supply chains, expand cooperation in areas such as information
technology, digital economy, agriculture, and trade in services. He added that they should step up cooperation on innovation and facilitate cross-border logistics and transportation.
Xi said that Russian-Chinese relations are developing very well, and good progress has been made in all areas of bilateral cooperation.

Noting the active exchanges and cooperation between governments and legislators at different levels and in different areas, Putin said that in difficult conditions such as the spread of COVID, Russian-Chinese trade has reversed the trend and achieved growth.

He expressed hope that both sides will make full use of their existing exchange channels and work on new progress in practical cooperation in various fields, including trade and economics, investment, energy, space, cross-border transportation, and logistics, and also bring to a new level of interpersonal and cultural exchange in the field of sports and tourism, as well as at the sub-national level.

Russia firmly supports China in upholding its legitimate interests in matters related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang, Putin said, adding that Russia congratulates China on successfully achieving the historic results of the talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in Beijing, which fully demonstrates the important status and positive influence of China as a major country in the world.

According to him, Russia appreciates China for consistently upholding an objective and impartial position in international affairs, supports the Global Security Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative put forward by China, and is ready to further strengthen international coordination with China.