This year marks the 65th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and also the 65th year of Sino-Russian diplomatic ties.

China is devoted to realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and Russia is also striving to regain its national strength. The Chinese dream is in accord with the Russian dream. The two countries maintain their determination to choose development paths suited to their own national conditions, and have set clear strategic goals for national rejuvenation. China and Russia offer each other mutual opportunities and are each other’s priority partners for cooperation, which has laid a solid foundation for political trust and strategic and practical cooperation between the two sides.

The three-pronged Sino-Russia relationship is at a historic point of strength.

High-level exchanges are taking place with unprecedented frequency. Chinese president Xi Jinping has visited Russia three times since last March. The Russian president Vladimir Putin is visiting China and attending the 4th Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Shanghai. All these exchanges provide testimony to the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Russia.

Pragmatic cooperation is advancing steadily. China and Russia signed over 30 agreements during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia last March. Pragmatic cooperation was further bolstered during Chinese premier Li Keqiang’s meeting with Russian Prime Minister Medvedev last October. Trade between China and Russia reached a value of $89.21 billion, an increase of 1.1 percent compared with the previous year. China remains Russia’s biggest trade partner. The two countries cooperate closely on international and regional flashpoints such as Syria and Iran. They have maintained close communication and effective coordination to promote political solutions to the Syria crisis and the Iran nuclear issue.

Cultural exchanges between China and Russia are developing steadily. Following the "China-Russia National Year", the "China-Russia Year of Language" and the “China-Russia Tourism Year”, the two countries have launched the “China-Russia Year of Friendly Youth Exchanges”.

President Xi Jinping said that the future of our nation, our world and Sino-Russia friendship lies in the young people. We hope that more and more young people will contribute to the friendship between the two countries.

This article is edited and translated from中国梦“握手”俄罗斯梦. Source: People’s Daily. Author: Li Hui, Chinese ambassador to Russia.