Chinese President Xi Jinping said the China-Russia relationship has gone far beyond the bilateral scope and acquired critical importance for the global landscape and the future of humanity, noting that the two sides will continue to advance bilateral exchanges and cooperation based on the principles of "good-neighborliness, friendship and win-win cooperation."

Under the new historical circumstances, the two sides will view and handle China-Russia relations with a broad vision and a long-term perspective in a bid to make a greater contribution to human progress, Xi said while jointly meeting the press with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

Since last year, the all-round practical cooperation between China and Russia has yielded fruitful outcomes and continued to manifest its strengths of solid fundamentals, high complementarity and strong resilience, Xi pointed out.

Two-way trade has grown by 116 percent over the last ten years, Xi told the press. This has not only consolidated the material foundation for the bilateral relations but also given an important boost to economic and social development in both countries, Xi noted. 

This is not an easy achievement, he said.

Xi's three-day state visit this time marks his first visit to Moscow after a lapse of over three years and his first overseas trip and state visit to Russia after his reelection as President of China.

The two presidents agreed that the two sides need to strengthen the overall design and top-level planning, boost trade in energy, resources, and electromechanical products, enhance the resilience of their industrial and supply chains, expand cooperation in such areas as information technology, the digital economy, agriculture and trade in services, promote greater complementarity and joint development of traditional trade and emerging areas of cooperation, and further facilitate cross-border logistics and transportation.

They shared the view that the two sides should continue to cement the cornerstone of people-to-people exchanges. Specifically, efforts should be made 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.

As permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia will continue to work with the international community to firmly uphold the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, as agreed by the two leaders. 

China and Russia will work more closely within multilateral frameworks, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BRICS, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and the G20, practice true multilateralism and promote post-COVID-19 economic recovery. The two sides will boost the constructive force for building a multipolar world and improving the global governance system, contribute more to maintaining global food and energy security and keeping industrial and supply chains stable, and work together for a community with a shared future for mankind.

President Xi said that in February, China released a document titled "China's Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis." 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, he said. 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 said he looks forward to staying in close touch with Putin through various means to guide the steady and sustained growth of China-Russia relations.

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

(Cover: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin jointly meet the press at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 21, 2023. /Xinhua)