MOSCOW, March 22 (Xinhua) — During his three-day visit to Russia starting on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin had sincere, friendly and fruitful talks on the bilateral ties and major regional and international issues of mutual interest, and reached new, important common understandings in many fields.

The two presidents also signed and issued two joint statements, making plans and arrangements for the growth of bilateral relations and wide-ranging cooperation between the two countries going forward.

The following are some of the highlights of their talks in Moscow.

CHINA-RUSSIA TIES

— Noting that China and Russia are each other’s largest neighbor, Xi said that to consolidate and develop long-term good-neighborly and friendly relations with Russia conforms to the historical logic and is China’s strategic choice, which will not be affected by any turn of events.

— Since his first state visit to Russia 10 years ago, Xi said China and Russia have respected, trusted and benefited each other, and the relationship between the two countries has stood firm with time, presenting more comprehensive, more practical and more strategic features.

— No matter how the international situation changes, China will continue to promote the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, Xi said.

— He and Putin reviewed the achievements of the growing bilateral relationship over the last 10 years, said Xi, adding that they shared the view that this relationship has gone far beyond the bilateral scope and acquired critical importance for the global landscape and the future of humanity.

— Xi and Putin jointly signed and released the Joint Statement of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era. In the statement, the two sides pointed out that China-Russia relations are not the kind of military-political alliance during the Cold War, but transcend such a model of state-to-state relations and have the nature of no-alliance, no-confrontation and not targeting any third party.

BOOSTING PRACTICAL COOPERATION

— Noting China-Russia cooperation enjoys significant potential and space and is strategic, reliable and stable, Xi said that the two sides need to strengthen overall coordination, boost trade in traditional areas, such as energy, resources, and electromechanical products, continuously enhance the resilience of industrial and supply chains, expand cooperation in such areas as information technology, the digital economy, agriculture and trade in services. They should step up cooperation in areas of innovation and facilitate cross-border logistics and transportation, he added.

— The two sides should cement the cornerstone of people-to-people exchanges, Xi said, calling for efforts to encourage more interactions between sister provinces/states and between sister cities, ensure the success of the Years of Sports Exchange, and facilitate the personnel movement between the two countries.

— Noting exchanges and cooperation are active between the governments, legislative bodies, at different levels and in different areas, Putin said that amid a complex environment, such as the spread of COVID, Russia-China trade bucked the trend and realized growth.

— Putin expressed hope that the two sides will make full use of their existing channels of exchange and work for new progress in practical cooperation in various fields, including the economy and trade, investment, energy, space and cross-border transportation and logistics, and bring people-to-people and cultural exchanges in sports and tourism and at subnational levels to new heights.

— Xi and Putin jointly signed and released a Joint Statement of the President of the People’s Republic of China and the President of the Russian Federation on Pre-2030 Development Plan on Priorities in China-Russia Economic Cooperation. In the statement, the two sides agreed to firmly uphold the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, realize long-term independent development of the two countries, promote high-quality development of China-Russia economic and trade cooperation, inject new impetus into the comprehensive promotion of bilateral cooperation, maintain the momentum of rapid growth of bilateral trade in goods and services, and commit to significantly increasing bilateral trade volume by 2030.

CONTRIBUTE TO WORLD PEACE, SECURITY

— Xi noted that changes unseen in a century are evolving faster and the international balance of power is undergoing a profound shift. As permanent members of the UN Security Council and major countries in the world, China and Russia have natural responsibilities to make joint efforts to steer and promote global governance in a direction that meets the expectations of the international community and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

— Russia appreciates China for consistently upholding an objective and impartial position on international affairs, supports the Global Security Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative China has put forward, and stands ready to further enhance international coordination with China, Putin said.

— The two countries call on an objective, impartial and professional investigation into the explosion of the Nord Stream pipeline, said the Joint Statement of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era, adding that they jointly oppose the attempt to politicize origin tracing of viruses.

— China and Russia express serious concerns about the consequences and risks of the trilateral security partnership — AUKUS and related nuclear-powered submarine cooperation programs among the United States, Britain and Australia on regional strategic stability.

— They also express serious concern about Japan’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident into the sea this year, and stressed that Japan must conduct transparent and full consultations with neighboring countries and other stakeholders and relevant international agencies.

— The two sides expressed serious concern about the biological military activities of the United States, both inside and outside the country, which seriously threaten other countries and undermine the security of relevant regions. They demand that the United States make clarification on this, and refrain from carrying out all biological activities that violate the Biological Weapons Convention.

PROMOTE POLITICAL SETTLEMENT OF UKRAINE ISSUE

— Last month, China released a document titled “China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis,” Xi stressed, adding that on the Ukraine crisis, China has all along abided by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, followed an objective and impartial position, and actively encouraged peace talks. China has based its position on the merits of the matter per se and stood firm for peace and dialogue and on the right side of history, he added.

— In the Joint Statement of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era, the two sides oppose the practice by any country or group of countries to seek advantages in the military, political and other areas to the detriment of the legitimate security interests of other countries.

— The Russian side reaffirms its commitment to the resumption of peace talks as soon as possible, which China appreciates. The Russian side welcomes China’s willingness to play a positive role for the political and diplomatic settlement of the Ukraine crisis and welcomes the constructive proposals set forth in China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis.

— The two sides point out that to settle the Ukraine crisis, the security concerns of all countries must be respected, bloc confrontation should be prevented and fanning the flames avoided. The two sides also stress that responsible dialogue is the best way for appropriate solutions. To this end, the international community should provide support to the relevant constructive efforts.

— China and Russia call for stopping all moves that lead to tensions and the protraction of fighting to prevent the crisis from getting worse or even out of control. They oppose any unilateral sanctions unauthorized by the UN Security Council.

Source(s): Xinhua