Xi Offers Russia 'firm Support' In 'core Interests'

President Xi Jinping on Wednesday said China and Russia should further upgrade economic, trade and investment cooperation, and expand cooperation in energy, state media reported.

In a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Beijing, Xi also said the nation is willing to continue to support issues concerning core interests it shares with Russia, according to broadcaster CCTV.

The Russian Prime Minister arrived in China on Monday, attending a business forum in Shanghai on Tuesday before travelling to Beijing to meet Premier Li Qiang and President Xi.

It is the highest-level visit by a Russian official to China since Moscow began its military offensive in Ukraine.

Xi told Mishustin that the two countries would continue to offer each other "firm support on issues concerning each other's core interests and strengthen collaboration in multilateral arenas", according to a readout by Xinhua news agency.

Mishustin had earlier told Premier Li that "relations between Russia and China are at an unprecedented high level", after a grand welcoming ceremony outside Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Wednesday.

"They are characterised by mutual respect of each other's interests, the desire to jointly respond to challenges, which is associated with increased turbulence in the international arena and the pressure of illegitimate sanctions from the collective West," he said.

Li, in turn, hailed the "comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between China and Russia in the new era". "I believe your trip to China this time will definitely leave a deep impression," he said.

China is Russia's largest trading partner, with trade between the nations reaching a record US$190 billion last year, according to Chinese customs data.

Li noted that bilateral trade had already reached US$70 billion so far this year.

"This is a year-on-year increase of more than 40 percent," he said. "The scale of investment between the two countries is also continuously upgrading," he added.

Following the talks, ministers from the two countries signed a series of agreements on service trade cooperation and sports, as well as on patents and Russian millet exports to China. (Reuters/AFP)

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