XiandPutinAgreetoExtendChina-RussiaFriendshipTreaty

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to extend a cornerstone bilateral friendship treaty during talks in Beijing on Wednesday, according to state media reports, as the two governments pledged to deepen strategic coordination and practical cooperation across trade, energy, technology and international affairs.

Xi met Putin at the Great Hall of the People during the Russian leader’s state visit to China. The two leaders held both restricted and expanded talks, according to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The two sides agreed to continue extending the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, Xinhua said. The treaty, signed 25 years ago, provides a legal foundation for long-term ties between Beijing and Moscow. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries’ strategic partnership.

Xi said the treaty had helped create the institutional basis for long-term good-neighborly relations and comprehensive strategic coordination between the two countries, according to Xinhua. He said China and Russia should take a long-term strategic view and use a higher-quality comprehensive strategic partnership to support each country’s development and revitalization, while promoting what Beijing describes as a more just and reasonable system of global governance.

As permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and major global powers, China and Russia should deepen political trust and strategic coordination, Xi said. He said the relationship had advanced through expanded cooperation across sectors and through joint efforts to defend what he called international fairness and justice.

Xi said the two countries had built ties on the basis of equality, mutual respect, trustworthiness and mutual benefit. He cited continuing progress in trade, investment, energy, science and technology, people-to-people exchanges and local-level cooperation, saying the relationship had entered a new stage of faster development.

He urged government departments on both sides to implement the consensus reached by the two leaders, strengthen the foundation of mutual trust and broaden cooperation. Xi also called for better coordination across the various bilateral mechanisms linking the two governments.

The Chinese leader said the two sides should focus on their respective development goals and upgrade practical cooperation in trade and investment, energy and resources, transportation and scientific and technological innovation. He also called for more cooperation in emerging fields and said new productive forces should be used to create fresh growth engines.

Xi said China and Russia should expand exchanges in education, culture, film, tourism and sports to strengthen public support for the bilateral relationship. He also called for closer coordination in multilateral forums, including the U.N., the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BRICS grouping and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Xi said the two countries should safeguard the postwar international order and the authority of international law, unite the Global South and help steer reform of the global governance system.

Putin said Russia-China relations had reached an unprecedentedly high level through the efforts of both sides, according to Xinhua. He pointed to frequent high-level exchanges, strong political trust, steady growth in bilateral trade and mutually beneficial energy supply arrangements. He also cited deepening cooperation in transportation, logistics, science and technology.

Putin said cultural and educational exchanges were gaining momentum, with a Russia-China Year of Education set to begin after the two countries held a Russia-China Year of Culture. He said bilateral ties had withstood tests and become a model of comprehensive strategic coordination.

The friendship treaty, Putin said, had laid a solid legal foundation for the relationship and had greater practical importance in the current environment. Russia is willing to work with China to uphold the spirit of the treaty, strengthen strategic coordination and deepen practical cooperation, he said.

Putin also described Russia-China cooperation as an important stabilizing factor in a turbulent international environment. He said Russia would continue to strengthen multilateral coordination with China, support China in hosting the APEC leaders’ informal meeting and work with Beijing to enhance the standing and influence of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, strengthen unity within BRICS, uphold the authority of the U.N., advocate civilizational diversity and promote a more just and reasonable international order.

The two leaders exchanged views on major international and regional issues, including the situation in the Middle East, Xinhua said.

Xi and Putin also heard reports from the chairs of vice-premier-level cooperation committees under the regular meeting mechanism between the Chinese and Russian prime ministers. The briefings covered progress in investment, energy, trade, cooperation between China’s northeast and Russia’s Far East and people-to-people exchanges. The two countries’ foreign ministers reported on coordination between China and Russia in international and regional affairs.

After the talks, Xi and Putin signed and issued a joint statement on further strengthening comprehensive strategic coordination and deepening good-neighborly cooperation between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation. They also witnessed the signing of 20 cooperation documents covering trade, education, science and technology and other areas.

During the visit, the two sides also issued a joint statement advocating world multipolarity and a new type of international relations and reached 20 other cooperation documents in additional fields, Xinhua said.