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The China-Russia relationship has been maintained at a high level since the beginning of 2016. The all-round cooperation on all fronts has not only brought benefits to the two peoples, but played a positive role in ensuring regional stability and world peace. The strategic collaboration between China and Russia has become the ballast stone in maintaining world peace and stability.

The main function of the ballast stone is to stabilize an object and keep balance. Starting from the beginning of this year, the international situation was riddled with complicated challenges and hidden turmoil, leading to dozens of “black swan” events. Under such circumstances, propositions made by China and Russia, featuring positive influence and great energy, have played a crucial role in their respective development and international peace.

The importance of the China-Russia relationship to world peace and stability equals that of mutual trust in China-Russia relationship.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held five meetings this year. Such frequent high-level communications, which were rarely seen in the international society, have charted the course of the China-Russia relationship and cement mutual trust in politics and strategies.

By using the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation as well as the 20th anniversary of the establishment of strategic partnership of coordination as platforms, China and Russia have launched all-round exchanges and cooperation based on an ever-lasting friendship.

They prioritize each other in diplomacy, regard each other as critical for development, support each other on issues concerning core interests, back each other in choosing the right development path suitable to respective national conditions, and contribute to the prosperity of both countries.

The ongoing cooperation in various fields has added momentum to the bilateral relationship. This year, both nations officially started the negotiation on economic and trade agreement of China and Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), marking an early achievement in connecting the “Belt and Road” and the EEU.

During President Putin’s state visit to Beijing in June, the two countries enriched the cooperation fruits from alignment of the “Belt and Road” and the EEU by reaching important consensus on building “Eurasian partnership”.

Moreover, both countries, based on a package of cooperation and balanced interests, have promoted comprehensive, pragmatic and mutually beneficial cooperation in the nuclear field, furthered pragmatic cooperation in investment, finance and energy fields, pioneered collaboration on SMEs, agriculture and technological innovation, and also launched strategic projects such as long-range wide-body plane and heavy transport helicopter (HTH).

Thanks to the joint efforts, bilateral trade volume of China and Russia has picked up and the trade structure has been improved.

More and more personnel exchanges have given bilateral ties a personal touch. Over 200 events were held under the framework of the year of media communication. An exhibition hall on the site of the 6th National Congress of the CPC was completed and opened to the public as scheduled, becoming a new symbol of China-Russia friendship.

With more and more Chinese tourists going on the “tour of revolution”, China will continue to be the biggest source of overseas tourists for Russia. A Shenzhen-based university was officially established by Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) and the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), showing that the cultural and personnel exchanges between the two countries have moved to the joint management of schools and improvement of soft power.

The ice cream that was presented by Putin to Xi became popular among the Chinese in a short time.

China and Russia also play a stabilizing role by guarding peace and justice. Both permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia share similar standpoints and perspectives in international affairs, strongly oppose Cold War mindset and zero-sum games, and devote to international justice and world peace.

This year, both heads of state released a joint declaration on global strategic stability and development of information cyberspace, and their foreign ministers also issued statements to promote international law. Such efforts have lifted China-Russia international cooperation to a new high and generated widespread positive influence on the international society.

Attaching great importance to the security and stability in Korean Peninsula, Central Asia and other neighboring areas, both countries opposed the possible deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea, and accelerated the resolution of hotspot political agendas such as Ukraine and Syria crises.

Both countries have made their voices heard loud and clear in the international affairs and contributed their solutions to address challenging issues in the world arena.

Looking into the next year, the international situation may become even more complicated, thus posing greater challenges for the development of both China and Russia. With the joint efforts and cooperation, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination will continue to serve as a ballast stone in order to further promote prosperity in both countries and enhance world peace and stability.