BEIJING, 8 June. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President XI Jinping agreed that Russia and China will intensify cooperation in all areas and to develop strategic and trustworthy dialogue at summit and high level.
While chatting with the press following bilateral talks, the Russian President said that by the end of 2018 the Russian-Chinese trade may reach $100 billion. in addition, Putin drew attention to the cooperation of Russia and China in the energy sector and unprecedented levels of cooperation in high-tech fields.
XI Jinping Putin with the order of Friendship of China. Russian President became the first owner of this Chinese high state awards.
At the end of the official ceremony, the leaders of the two countries on a fast train “Fuxing” went from Beijing to Tianjin to see a friendly match of young hockey players from Russia and China.
Large-scale and unprecedented cooperation
“In January-March [2018] the volume of Russian-Chinese trade grew by 31%. If you continue this pace, by the end of the year we can reach a record indicator – the level which we mentioned in several previous years – $100 billion,” Putin said at a press conference following the talks. He recalled that last year the turnover between Russia and China amounted to $87 billion and said the expansion of investment cooperation.
According to the Russian leader, a key area of bilateral cooperation is energy. “Russia is the largest exporter of fuel to the Chinese market last year was delivered more than 50 million tons of oil in January-April the number has increased by 26%”, – he stated. Putin also recalled that “the energy company of Russia and China are jointly involved in the project for the extraction and liquefaction of natural gas “Yamal LNG” and 2017 “Chinese consumers get gas from this field”.
Separately, the Russian leader highlighted the cooperation in nuclear energy.
In addition, speaking about the cooperation between the two countries, the Russian head of state said that in the Chinese lunar program will involve cutting-edge Russian development. According to Putin, “such a format of interaction of the Russian Federation have no any other country in the world”. “It is a very sensitive, unique developments of Russian scientists and specialists”, – he explained, adding that the talks touched upon the topic of cooperation in the aircraft industry.
“The plans – joint implementation of infrastructure projects, here we are talking about initiatives such as cargo-passenger the road is “Eurasia”, the development of transport corridors “Primorye-1 and Primorye-2”, – said Putin. According to him, the talks also focused on “joint development potential of the Northern sea route, TRANS-Siberian and Baikal-Amur railroads”.
Putin invited XI Jinping to visit the Eastern economic forum in Vladivostok. “Waiting for the Chinese President as the chief guest at the Eastern economic forum in September in Vladivostok,” – said the head of the Russian state.
The views are close or coincide
China and Russia are in a difficult international context intend to strengthen cooperation in various international formats, said following the talks, the Chinese President. “China and Russia, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, are the responsible powers. We agreed that in a complex and volatile international situation, China and Russia will strengthen mutual support and cooperation in international Affairs,” said XI, vowing to “deepen strategic cooperation”.
“Discussion of international Affairs confirmed that our countries’ approaches to many global or regional problems are close or coincide,” Putin said. He, in particular, noted that Russia and China are interested in establishing peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. During the talks with XI Jinping also touched upon the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, said the Russian leader.
A joint statement
Following Russian-Chinese talks signed a joint statement in which the sides are ready to expand and deepen cooperation in all areas. According to the document, the Treaty on good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation between Russia and China dated July 16, 2001 remains the conceptual basis for bilateral relations at present and in the long term.
In addition, the statement said that the country is ready to join efforts aimed at bringing bilateral relations to a new higher level.
Among the challenges facing countries in the statement called “the further strengthening of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the financial sector, contributing to the increase in the share of national currencies in trade settlements, investments and funding, developing cooperation in areas such as payment systems and insurance.” The leaders also agreed on the need to consolidate the growth trends of Russian-Chinese trade turnover and further improve its structure, searching for new points of growth and forms of interaction in trade-economic cooperation.
Russia and China are ready to continue cooperation in the military sphere, said in a statement. “Russia and China intend to further step up strategic communication and coordination between the Armed forces of the two countries, to improve existing mechanisms for military cooperation, to expand cooperation in the sphere of military and military-technical cooperation, work together to confront the challenges of global and regional security”, – stated in it.
The parties are ready to support necessary and reasonable reforms of the UN, including the Security Council of this organization. Putin and XI Jinping said in a joint statement the intention to “counteract the attempts of some States to conduct unilateral military action without a mandate of the UN Security Council or without the consent of the legitimate government of the country in whose territory such actions are carried out”. Russia and China will also participate in the formation of the architecture of equal and indivisible regional and global security, “based on the rejection of the use of force or threat of use of force, non-interference of one state in the internal or external Affairs of another state, the resolution of international conflict is purely political-diplomatic methods”.
About football and not only
Special mention in the joint statement, Putin and XI Jinping was awarded the football. “The sides expressed confidence that the opening few days in Russia the world championship on football will be the world sports festival, a festival of friendship between athletes from all continents, and I believe that international sporting events and activities should not suffer from the influence of non-sporting factors,” the document reads. In addition, Russia has expressed willingness to provide China with the necessary support in the preparation for the winter Olympic games in 2022 in Beijing.
The leaders agreed to support the further expansion of humanitarian contacts, bring them to a qualitatively new level, consolidate the social basis of bilateral relations, deepen mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of the two States.
China invited representatives of the Russian Federation to take an active part in the first China international fair of imported goods. The leaders also supported the early implementation of the Russian-Chinese forum on cooperation in the field of energy to discuss measures to deepen concrete cooperation in the energy sector between the two countries.
A special sign of attention
XI Jinping to Putin presented a Friendship award of China. It is significant that the Russian President became the first owner of this Chinese high state awards.
“President Putin awarding the order held for the first time after the establishment of China’s system of rewarding public services. President Putin as the leader of the big powers with global influence is the founder of the current Sino-Russian relations and always promotes their development at the highest level”, – said the Chairman of the PRC. He recalled that, “since 2000, President Putin 19 times came to China on a visit or to participate in international events”. “Among the heads of state of world powers, he visited China, he is the most familiar and respected in China,” said XI Jinping, calling the President his “best friend”.
The leader of China stressed that in 2001, Putin signed the Russian side the Treaty on good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation between China and Russia, which laid a solid Foundation for the centuries-old friendship between Moscow and Beijing.
The Russian President said that for him “it is an honor to be awarded the state award of China order of Friendship”. “You know that the order has been established recently and today is awarded for the first time. I sincerely thank our Chinese friends for such a special sign of attention”, – Putin said. He described this as the recognition of Russian efforts to develop a comprehensive strategic partnership with China.
The order of Friendship of China was approved as the state awards on 1 January 2016. It is awarded only to foreign citizens who have made special contribution to state-building and modernization of China, the development of relations and cooperation of China with foreign countries, to the maintenance of peace in the world.
On the reverse of the order presented to the Russian leader, engraved with the name of the President of the Russian Federation in the Russian language.
By train to a hockey game
After the talks, Putin and XI Jinping at a high-speed train “Fuxing” went from Beijing to Tianjin – a port city on the shores of the Bohai Gulf, located 120 km from the Chinese capital. In Tianjin, the leaders of Russia and China looked friendly match Junior teams of the two countries.
The leaders before the game came out on the ice, briefly spoke with the players and catapulted the puck, and then, standing on the rostrum, watched the first period of the match.
From the Russian side in the competition participated the team of “the Devonian” from the Bashkir city of Tuimazy. The team players were born in 2005-2006. Team “Devon” participates in the championship of Russia among young men, the lead in group “B” in the Volga region. Team their Chinese peers have collected and prepared coach Hu Jiang, who led the Chinese team at the last in 2017 in Japan the Asian games.
Team before the match, gave the kit to the leaders of Russia and China. Putin handed the red-and-yellow sweater with the number 11, which he always goes on the ice.
Similar hockey meeting is very symbolic, because Russia has China in the development and implementation of the sport, including taking into account the fact that the 2022 winter Olympic games will be held in Beijing.
