Putin lauds Russian-Chinese relations as model of efficiency, responsibility
Relations between Russia and China have reached an unprecedented level and become a model of efficiency, responsibility and aspiration for the future, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an article for China’s Xinhua news agency, published on the Kremlin website on Thursday.
The article, titled Russia and China: A Future-Oriented Strategic Partnership, came out ahead of Putin’s February 4 visit to Beijing, where he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games.
According to the Russian president, he is "pleased to address directly the large Chinese and foreign audience of Xinhua, the world's largest news agency."
The Russian leader emphasized that Russia and China "are close neighbors bound by centuries-old traditions of friendship and trust." "We highly appreciate that Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation, entering a new era, have reached an unprecedented level and have become a model of efficiency, responsibility, and aspiration for the future," Putin noted.
He pointed out that "the basic principles and guidelines for joint work were defined by our countries in the Treaty of Good Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, the twentieth anniversary of which we celebrated last year." "These are, first and foremost, equality, consideration of one another's interests, freedom from political and ideological circumstances, as well as from the vestiges of the past. These are the principles we are consistently building on year after year in the spirit of continuity to deepen our political dialogue. Despite the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we are striving to dynamically build the capacity of economic partnerships and expand humanitarian exchanges," the Russian leader wrote.
"During the upcoming visit, the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping and I will thoroughly discuss key issues on the bilateral, regional, and global agendas. It is symbolic that our meeting will take place during the Spring Festival - the Chinese Lunar New Year. After all, as the Chinese saying goes, ‘make your whole year's plan in the spring’," Putin noted.
According to him, "the development of business ties will certainly be given special attention." "There is every opportunity for this as our countries have substantial financial, industrial, technological and human resources allowing us to successfully resolve long-term development issues. By working together, we can achieve stable economic growth and improve the well-being of our citizens, strengthen our competitiveness, and stand together against today's risks and challenges," Putin said.
The Russian leader stressed that "an important part of the visit will be a discussion of relevant international topics." "The coordination of the foreign policy of Russia and China is based on close and coinciding approaches to solving global and regional issues. Our countries play an important stabilizing role in today's challenging international environment, promoting the democratization of the system of interstate relations to make it more equitable and inclusive. We are working together to strengthen the central coordinating role of the United Nations in global affairs and to prevent the international legal system, with the UN Charter at its center, from being eroded," the Russian president said.
He added that "Russia and China are actively cooperating on the broadest agenda within BRICS, RIC, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as other associations." "Within the G20, we are committed to taking national specifics into account when formulating our recommendations, be it the fight against pandemics or the implementation of the climate agenda. Thanks to a large extent to our countries' shared solidarity, following the 2021 G20 Summit in Rome informed decisions were made on international cooperation to restore economic growth, recognize vaccines and vaccine certificates, optimize energy transitions, and reduce digitalization risks," Putin specified.
He stated that the two countries "also have convergent positions on international trade issues." "We advocate maintaining an open, transparent and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system based on the rules of the World Trade Organization. We support relaunching of global supply chains," Putin noted.
"Back in March 2020, Russia proposed an initiative on ‘green trade corridors’ that excludes any sanctions, political and administrative barriers. Its implementation is a useful aid to overcoming the economic consequences of the pandemic," the Russian president said.
When speaking about economic cooperation, Putin pointed out that "at the end of 2021, the volume of mutual trade increased by more than a third, exceeding the record level of 140 billion US dollars." "We are well on the way towards our goal of increasing the volume of trade to 200 billion US dollars a year," he added.
"A number of important initiatives are being implemented in the investment, manufacturing, and agro-industrial sectors," Putin noted. "We are consistently expanding the practice of settlements in national currencies and creating mechanisms to offset the negative impact of unilateral sanctions," he stressed.
Putin pointed out that "a mutually beneficial energy alliance is being formed between our countries." "Along with long-term supplies of Russian hydrocarbons to China, we have plans to implement a number of large-scale joint projects. The construction of four new power units at Chinese nuclear power plants with the participation of Rosatom State Corporation launched last year is one of them. All this significantly strengthens the energy security of China and the Asia region as a whole," the Russian president emphasized.
"We see an array of opportunities in the development of partnerships in information and communication technologies, medicine, space exploration, including the use of national navigation systems and the International Lunar Research Station project," he added.
