Li, Mishustin chair meeting between Chinese, Russian heads of gov't, calling for stronger all-round practical cooperation

Chinese Premier Li Qiang co-chairs the 29th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian heads of government with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow, Russia, Aug. 21, 2024. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

MOSCOW, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang said here Wednesday that China is ready to work with Russia to strengthen all-round practical cooperation between the two countries, and push the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era to a new level.

Li made the remarks when co-chairing the 29th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian heads of government with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

In recent years, under the strategic guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, China-Russia relations have achieved high-quality development at a high level, and bilateral cooperation in various fields has continued to show strong resilience and steadily moved forward, he said.

China, Li said, is ready to work with Russia to follow the strategic guidance of the two heads of state and take the opportunity of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties to uphold mutual respect, mutual trust, everlasting friendship and mutual benefit.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang co-chairs the 29th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian heads of government with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow, Russia, Aug. 21, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

For his part, Mishustin said Russia is ready to work with China to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, continue to deepen mutual trust, expand cooperation in investment, energy, economy and trade, culture and sub-national areas, and ensure the success of the Russia-China Years of Culture.

He also pledged that Russia will join China in strengthening communication and coordination in international affairs, better safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the two sides, and pushing forward the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

Li and Mishustin listened to the work reports from the two sides' representatives of the China-Russia investment cooperation committee, the China-Russia energy cooperation committee, the committee for the regular meetings between Chinese and Russian heads of government, the intergovernmental commission for cooperation of Northeast China and the Far East of Russia, and the China-Russia committee on humanities cooperation.

They fully affirmed the work of the various committees of the two sides over the past year, and agreed that China and Russia have complementary advantages and huge potential for practical cooperation, calling on the two sides to further optimize the cooperation structure, steadily advance cooperation in traditional areas such as economy and trade, investment, agriculture and energy, and expand cooperation in emerging areas including digital economy, biomedicine and green development.

They agreed that the two countries should take the China-Russia Years of Culture as an opportunity to deepen people-to-people exchanges, consolidate popular support for friendship, constantly strengthen the internal driving force of bilateral cooperation, and improve the quality and efficiency of cooperation.

After the meeting, the two leaders signed a joint communique of the 29th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian heads of government and a new version of the outline of the China-Russia investment cooperation plan. They also witnessed the signing of the minutes of meetings of relevant cooperation committees as well as cooperation documents in areas such as education, science and technology, chemical industry, green construction, maritime search and rescue, cross-border cargo transport and facilitation of citizen exchanges.