Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
St. Petersburg, June 19 /Xinhua/ — Russia is becoming a significant economic partner of China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in response to a question from Xinhua News Agency Director General Fu Hua during a meeting with heads of international news agencies on the sidelines of the 28th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which is being held in St. Petersburg from June 18 to 21.
“Russia is becoming a very visible partner for the People’s Republic of China in the economic sphere,” he noted.
According to V. Putin, the volume of bilateral trade turnover of 240 billion US dollars is decent. In addition, Russia and China have planned investment projects worth 200 billion dollars. “And they are all realistic, they will all be implemented, I have no doubts,” he said.
At the same time, the Russian President emphasized that the expansion of Russia’s economic cooperation with China is not connected with “some kind of turn” toward Asia. According to him, this is a natural direction of cooperation, and relations with China were not built yesterday. “This is not a matter of opportunism. All this is happening to a large extent, I must say frankly, due to the growth in the volume and quality of the Chinese economy, and, I hope, the growth in the volume and quality of the Russian economy,” the Russian leader added.
Speaking about the priorities of bilateral cooperation, V. Putin named the financial sphere. “We need to ensure, of course, reliable financial flows that ensure growing volumes of trade turnover,” he said.
The Russian President also spoke about the need to focus more on high-tech areas: the construction of heavy helicopters, space, and aircraft manufacturing. He praised China’s achievements in information technology. “I was surprised and pleased when the Chinese achieved simply demonstratively outstanding results in the development of artificial intelligence. It turned out to be 10 times cheaper than our competitors, and 10 times more effective – this is the result that our Chinese friends have achieved,” he noted.
As V. Putin emphasized, military-technical cooperation is developing between Russia and China, which, according to him, is extremely important in order to “guarantee stability in world affairs.” “We have a whole plan for cooperation in this area, and the Ministry of Defense has its own plans for interaction. We regularly conduct exercises and will conduct them this year,” the president said.
The Russian leader also declared his readiness to exchange military technologies with China. “We know about the wishes of our Chinese friends. This is not just about buying and selling, but about exchanging technologies. We are ready for this and will work in all directions,” he concluded. –0–