The meeting took place as part of the official visit by Prime Minister of Russia to China.
Mikhail Mishustin and President of China Xi Jinping
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with President of China Xi Jinping
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with President of China Xi Jinping
Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with President of China Xi Jinping
Mikhail Mishustin and President of China Xi Jinping
Excerpts from the transcript:
Xi Jinping (retranslated): I would like to convey my greetings and best wishes to President Putin, my long-time friend.
You and I had a meeting and a very good conversation in Moscow during my visit to Russia, and I invited you to pay a visit to China.
This is your first visit to China as Prime Minister. I read in the news that you had productive talks with Premier of the State Council of China Li Qiang as part of this visit, and also attended several events, including the Russian-Chinese Business Forum in Shanghai, where China’s Vice Premier of the State Council He Lifeng was also present.
This is to say that your visit has been quite a success.
Visit
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Mikhail Mishustin lays a wreath at the Monument to the People’s Heroes in Beijing
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Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with representatives of the Russian business community
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Mikhail Mishustin’s meeting with BRICS New Development Bank President Dilma Rousseff
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Mikhail Mishustin takes part in the Russian-Chinese Business Forum
Today, the relations between China and Russia have reached a high level with our multifaceted cooperation advancing at a steady pace. We are fulfilling our agreements step by step. Bilateral trade totalled $73.14 billion in the first four months of 2023 alone, and has been rapidly growing alongside qualitative improvements in our cooperation. This benefits people in both our countries.
I suggest that we continue building on the advantages China and Russia can unlock through their cooperation with its vast scope, immense potential and powerful drivers. By doing so, we can elevate our practical, cultural and humanitarian cooperation to a new level.
I hold a positive view of this development path. This will enable us to keep adding new substance to our strategic partnership and comprehensive cooperation.
Mikhail Mishustin: Your Excellency, Mr Xi Jinping, allow me to begin by conveying to you the best greetings on behalf of President of Russia Vladimir Putin. He holds very warm memories of the talks you had in March in Moscow.
Your state visit to the Russian Federation opened a new path for developing comprehensive strategic cooperation between Russia and China.
The talks at the Kremlin paved the way to momentous decisions, which resonated around the world and came to symbolise unity in Russia and China’s approaches to key matters on the global agenda.
I would like to reaffirm our shared commitment to strengthening the multipolar world order based on respecting sovereignty, the rule of international law and non-interference in the domestic affairs of states.
This is my first official visit to China. It is taking place at your personal invitation, Mr Xi Jinping. My main objective is to build constructive ties with my colleague, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang, as well as enable our governments to work together effectively to be able to deliver on the decisions adopted by our leaders in a timely manner. It is essential to note that the government-level talks today in Beijing, as well as yesterday’s business forum in Shanghai took place in an atmosphere of friendship, mutual understanding and respect – the defining aspects of Russian-Chinese relations.
We sincerely treasure the neighbourly relations, partnership and cooperation between Russia and China. This means a lot to us considering the growing turbulence in international markets and the international stage in general.
Our two countries have been seeking to counter the attempts of the collective West to preserve its global dominance by leveraging illegal sanctions to impose its will on independent states. I am certain that Russia and China will stand firm in fending off these dangerous aspirations by creating an enabling environment for moving forward and achieving our shared strategic objectives, just as you have said, Mr President.
Today, my colleague Li Qiang and I held meaningful talks and discussed Russian-Chinese interaction in all their aspects. We established friendly and positive ties, and took note of our achievements in promoting trade and economic cooperation considering last year’s record performance in bilateral trade.
Today, we are about to reach new heights. In January-March, trade increased by another quarter, and I am certain that we will deliver on the objective you, Mr Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin have set, which consists of expanding our trade to $200 billion. I think that we will soon exceed this threshold.
There are positive developments in our investment cooperation too. We are working on 79 joint projects with a total value of over $165 billion. We propose that we go even further by becoming even more proactive in opening up new promising avenues for cooperation. This is the path to new substance in Russian-Chinese relations.
We believe that expanding cultural and humanitarian ties is just as important as strengthening our trade and economic cooperation. Mr Li Qiang and I had a detailed conversation on this matter during today’s talks. These ties can help consolidate friendship and mutual sympathy between our peoples, as well as pass them on to future generations in both Russia and China.
Mr Li Qiang and I also agreed to make the mechanism for holding regular meetings between the Russian and Chinese heads of government more proactive and responsive. This mechanism, as you know, consists of five intergovernmental commissions chaired by deputy prime ministers, as well as over 80 sectoral working groups. We will compare notes during the next meeting of the heads of government which is scheduled to take place in late 2023.
Three days ago, on 21 May, Xiaoman season, or the season of the Lesser Fullness of Grain, started as per the Chinese traditional calendar, marking the time of the year when wheat grain begins to ripen while spring waters fill the rivers. I suggest that we view what we have already achieved in expanding Russia-China relations as merely the “lesser fullness,” with even more to come down the road. We will work with our Chinese friends to steadily expand our cooperation, which will certainly yield tremendous results.
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