Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday said China-Russia relations are at their "best time in history," and expressed hope the Group of 20 major economies (G20) will continue their support for multilateral free trade and leadership in innovation-driven growth.[Special coverage]
Xi made the statement in an interview with Russian media ahead of his departure for the July 3-4 state visit to Russia.
The president travels to Moscow on Monday for a state visit to Russia, which is to be followed by one to Germany, where he will attend the upcoming Hamburg summit of the G20.
HUGE POTENTIAL IN CHINA-RUSSIA COOPERATION
China and Russia have built high-level political and strategic mutual trust, Xi said, noting that China and Russia have completely resolved their border issues left over from history, turning the 4,300-km boundary line into a bond of friendship between the two peoples.
"Our two countries have built a high level of political and strategic trust," Xi said, adding that the two nations are each other's most trustworthy strategic partners.
"I believe the visit will lend new impetus to the growth of bilateral relations," said Xi.
Xi said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin both think China and Russia should deepen economic and trade cooperation so as to reinforce their interests bond and better benefit the two peoples.
"Economic cooperation and trade is the most wide-ranging area in our practical cooperation and enjoys great potential," Xi said, adding that the structure of China-Russia economic cooperation and trade continues to improve and quite a few new areas of growth have emerged.
Xi said growth could be achieved from increased trade of mechanical and electrical and hi-tech products, smooth investment cooperation, deepening financial cooperation, the rapidly growing farm produce trade, the Far East development cooperation on a faster track, and steady progress in strategic cooperation projects and cross-border infrastructure construction.
He also highlighted bilateral efforts underway to boost alignment of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, which he said " will help open up broader prospects for bilateral economic cooperation, facilitate trade and investment, create more opportunities for business cooperation, and effectively connect our industries, technologies, capital and markets."
Proposed by Xi in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
CHINA'S STANCES ON GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ISSUES
In the interview, Xi touched upon a number of global and regional issues and clarified China's stances and solutions in an effort to safeguard world peace and stability.
Xi pointed out that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) installation jeopardizes the strategic balance in the region and is unhelpful to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and maintaining regional peace and stability.
