China's president to visit Russia

Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay an official visit to Russia. 

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang, the president’s visit to Russia will begin on July 3.

"During this visit, the Chinese president will have a meeting and talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, "Lu Kang said.

"The two leaders will exchange views on deepening the relations of comprehensive strategic partnership and cooperation and strengthening political trust between the two countries. They will also raise some pressing bilateral and international issues of mutual interest," TASS cited the diplomat as saying.

The Extraordinary and Plenipotentionary Ambassador of Russia in China Andrey Denisov said earlier that the China-Russia Treaty of Good Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation will be signed as part of the visit.

The Deputy Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University, Andrey Korneev, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that annual meetings of the presidents of Russia and China have already become a good tradition. "This year the presidents have already talked to each other at the 'One Belt, One Road' summit in China, and at the SCO summit in Astana. The Chinese leader has long planned his visit to Moscow, and, in my opinion, it will be devoted to some inventory of the Russian-Chinese relations by the leaders of the two countries," he believes.

The expert stressed that the most important step at the upcoming negotiations is to give a new impetus to the restoration of trade and economic relations to the pre-crisis level. "It's no secret that after 2014 our trade with China declined by almost one-third. In the first months of this year, there was a growth in turnover, by about 35-36%, and I think that one of the important tasks is to came up with additional stimulation for the restoration of our trade, economic and investment cooperation," Andrei Korneev said.

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will also need to discuss the widest range of bilateral political issues in the face of changing international conditions. "The American factor and the situation in such sharp spots as the Korean Peninsula and Syria are important here. In addition, there are always topics of discussions that are not announced in advance. Everyone will follow this important visit, let's hope that initiatives in the field of humanitarian cooperation will also be announced," the Deputy Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University concluded.