Russia (bbabo.net), - On the eve of my new visit to China, I am pleased to have the opportunity to directly address the large Chinese and foreign audience of the largest news agency, Xinhua.
Our countries are close neighbors bound by centuries-old traditions of friendship and trust. And we highly appreciate that Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction, entering a new era, have reached an unprecedented level, have become a model of efficiency, responsibility, and commitment to the future.
Our countries defined the basic principles and guidelines for joint work in the Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, the twentieth anniversary of which we celebrated last year. First of all, it is equality, consideration of each other's interests, freedom from political and ideological conjuncture, from remnants of the past. It is on these principles that we consistently, in the spirit of continuity, deepen our political dialogue from year. Despite the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we strive to dynamically build up the potential of economic partnership and expand humanitarian exchanges.
During our upcoming visit, President Xi Jinping and I will comprehensively review key issues on the bilateral, regional and global agenda. It is symbolic that our meeting will take place during the Spring Festival - the New Year according to the lunar calendar. After all, as the Chinese proverb says, "plans for the whole year should be made in the spring."
Of course, we plan to pay special attention to the development of business ties. There are all opportunities for this, because our countries have serious financial, industrial, technological and human resources that allow us to successfully solve the problems of long-term development. Working together to achieve stable economic growth and improve the well-being of citizens, strengthen competitiveness, and jointly defend against modern risks and challenges.
At the end of 2021, mutual trade increased by more than a third, exceeding the record high of $140 billion. We are confidently moving towards our goal - to increase the volume of trade to $200 billion a year. A number of important initiatives are being implemented in the investment, production, and agro-industrial sectors. In particular, the "portfolio" of the Intergovernmental Commission on Investment Cooperation includes 65 projects worth over $120 billion. We are talking about cooperation in such sectors as the extraction and processing of minerals, the construction of infrastructure facilities, and agriculture.
We are consistently expanding the practice of settlements in national currencies and developing mechanisms to offset the negative impact of unilateral sanctions. An important milestone in this work was the signing in 2019 of the Agreement between the governments of Russia and China on settlements and payments.
A mutually beneficial energy alliance is being formed between our countries. Along-term supplies of Russian hydrocarbons to China, we plan to implement a number of major joint projects. One of them is the construction of four new power units at Chinese nuclear power plants with the participation of State Corporation Rosatom, which began last year. All this significantly strengthens the energy security of China and the Asian region as a whole.
We see a wide field of opportunities in developing partnerships in the information and communications industry, in medicine, in space exploration, including in the use of national navigation systems and in the implementation of the International Scientific Lunar Station project. A serious impetus to the strengthening of bilateral ties was given by the "cross" Years of scientific, technical and innovative cooperation that took place in our countries in 2020-2021.
We are grateful to our Chinese colleagues for their assistance in setting up production in the PRC of the Russian vaccines Sputnik V and Sputnik Light, and for the timely organization of deliveries of the necessary protective equipment to our country. We hope that such cooperation will grow and strengthen.
One of the strategic tasks of Russia is the accelerated socio-economic development of Siberia and the Far East. These territories are the closest neighbors of China. And we intend to actively develop interregional ties. Attract Chinese investment and technology, expand global transport and trade routes. Thus, the modernization of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways began. By 2024, their throughput should increase one and a half times due to an increase in the volume of transit cargo and a reduction in transportation time. The port infrastructure in the Russian Far East is also growing. All this should further enhance the complementarity of the Russian and Chinese economies.And, of course, careful conservation of nature and common ecosystems remains a topical area of bilateral cross-border and interregional cooperation. These issues are always in the focus of attention of the public of our countries, and we will definitely discuss them in detail during the talks, as well as a wide range of humanitarian topics.
Russia and China are powers with thousands of years of original traditions and colossal cultural heritage, the interest in which is consistently high both in our countries and abroad. Yes, over the past two years, due to the pandemic, the number of tourists, joint mass events, and direct contacts between our citizens has decreased. However, I have no doubt that we will catch up and, as soon as the situation allows, we will launch new educational programs that will acquaint our citizens with the history and current life of the two countries. Thus, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping and I have decided to organize in 2022 and 2023 the Years of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the field of physical culture and sports.
Of course, an important part of the current visit will be the discussion of topical international issues. The foreign policy coordination of Russia and China is based on close, coinciding approaches to solving global and regional problems. Our countries play an important stabilizing role in the modern, far from simple, international situation, they contribute to the processes of democratization of the system of interstate relations in order to make this system more fair and inclusive. We are working together to strengthen the central coordinating role of the United Nations in world affairs, and we are striving to prevent the erosion of the international legal system, at the center of which is the UN Charter.
Russia and China are actively cooperating on the broadest agenda in BRICS, RIC, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other associations. In the G20, we advocate taking into account national specifics when formulating certain recommendations, whether it is the fight against the pandemic or the implementation of the climate agenda. Largely due to the solidarity of our countries in 2021, following the results of the G20 summit in Rome, it was possible to reach balanced decisions on international cooperation to restore economic growth, recognize vaccines and vaccine certificates, optimize the energy transition and reduce the risks of digitalization.
We also have consonant positions on international trade issues. We stand for an open, transparent and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system based on the rules of the World Trade Organization. For restarting global supply chains. Back in March 2020, Russia proposed an initiative on "green corridors" in trade, excluding any sanctions, political and administrative barriers. Its implementation is a good help to overcome the economic consequences of the pandemic.
The most important event of world significance is the XXIV Winter Olympic Games starting in Beijing. Russia and China are the leading sports powers, which are famous for their sports traditions and have more than once adequately hosted the largest international competitions. I warmly remember my trip to Beijing in August 2008 for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Guests and athletes from Russia remembered the bright performance for a long time, and themselves were organized with the scale and exceptional hospitality inherent in Chinese friends. In turn, we were pleased to host Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2014 at the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
Alas, attempts by a number of countries to politicize sports issues in favor of their ambitions have recently intensified. This is fundamentally wrong and contrary to the very spirit and principles of the Olympic Charter. The strength and greatness of sport is that it unites people, gives moments of triumph and pride in one's country, delights with an honest, fair, uncompromising struggle. And such approaches are shared by the majority of states - participants in the international Olympic movement.
Chinese friends have done a great job for the quality preparation for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. I am convinced that China's rich experience in the flawless organization of representative international competitions will make it possible to hold this world sports festival at the highest level. I would like to wish the teams of Russia and China impressive results and new records!
I extend my warmest congratulations to the friendly Chinese people on the occasion of the Spring Festival, which marks the beginning of the Year of the Tiger. I wish you health, prosperity and success.
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