Vladimir Putin met with President of China Xi Jinping

Photo: Kremlin.ru

The President of Russia arrived in Bishkek on a working visit to take part in a meeting of the Council of the Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Kremlin informs.

Vladimir Putin met with President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the SCO summit.

Taking part in the talks on the Russian side were Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office – Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev, and CEO of the Rosatom State Corporation Alexei Likhachev.

Vladimir Putin met with President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping
Photo: Kremlin.ru

President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping (retranslated):

The foundation of our bilateral relations will only grow stronger, and we will confidently move forward to a better future.

The factors of uncertainty and unpredictability are growing amid the rapid changes unseen for centuries, but the striving of nations on our planet for peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit remains unchanged. The vital mission of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is to maintain stability and promote the development of our region.

Tomorrow we will attend the SCO summit. I look forward to having a joint discussion with Mr President and the leaders of all other countries on the further development of our organisation aimed at strengthening solidarity and facilitating a stable and lasting growth of the SCO and enhancing its role as a stabilising factor in the international community.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin:

Mr Xi, my dear friend,

I am happy that we have met again, this time in Kyrgyzstan.

However, I would like to begin with the recent tragedy that has taken place in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China near the border with Nepal. It has been struck by a powerful landslide, which has claimed lives. Please, convey our deepest condolences to the victims’ families and friends and wishes for a speedy recovery to all those injured.

We are meeting just hours before the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which was established 25 years ago at the initiative of China and Russia. I am pleased to note that our initiative is being successfully carried forward and has clearly acquired a truly international character in the broadest sense of the word. The SCO has become a fully-fledged international organisation.

This year, we marked the 25th anniversary of the foundational bilateral Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation. It was Comrade Jiang Zemin who signed it back in the day. He would have turned 100 years old on August 17, and we remember him for the way he contributed to promoting Russia-China relations.

In today’s challenging geopolitical environment, Russia and China have been exemplary in promoting a comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation in their interstate relations which are based on a solid track record of friendship, respecting sovereignty, equality, and mutual benefit.

There has been positive momentum in promoting cooperation across the board, including in the economy. We have major projects underway in energy, manufacturing, space exploration, transport and logistics. In mid-August, a Chinese container ship carried out the first regular voyage along the Northern Sea Route. Mutual deliveries of agricultural products have been rapidly expanding with a 34-percent increase.

Digital innovation, including artificial intelligence, offer new economic development opportunities for our countries. Together with our Chinese friends, we have established the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation. This was your initiative, and we are delighted to support it and are committed to working together in this sector.

It is clear that the 30-day visa-free arrangement has been facilitating business-to-business and people-to-people contacts. You announced this initiative a year ago, on September 2, during our meeting in Beijing. And we supported it. As of today, this modality is set to remain in force until the end of 2027. It had an immediate effect since tourist flows surged by 43 percent in the first six months. We stand ready to work together on transforming the visa-free framework into a permanent arrangement, should China deem this feasible and advisable.

As for the latest foreign policy developments, we share close or fully convergent approaches when it comes to matters of principle. In addition to the SCO, we maintain active engagement across such international frameworks as the United Nations, BRICS, G20, ASEAN-centric formats, and of course we will continue assisting China as chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Thank you for your attention.

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