Cooperation with Russia to be enhanced

China willing to expand two-way opening-up, deepen win-win cooperation, premier says

Premier Li Keqiang called on Wednesday for better alignment between the Belt and Road Initiative and the development strategies of Russia in order to enable new breakthroughs in bilateral cooperation in the economy, trade, energy and agriculture.

Speaking during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin via video link, Li urged the two nations to proactively foster new area of openness and cooperation while consolidating the foundation of traditional cooperative areas.

The two sides must accelerate their pace of cooperation in manufacturing, the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the digital economy and small and medium-sized enterprises, he said.

The meeting, which was the 25th regular meeting between the Chinese premier and the Russian prime minister, also included Vice-Premiers Han Zheng, Sun Chunlan and Hu Chunhua and their Russian counterparts.

To harness the foundation of popular support for bilateral relations, Li highlighted the need to strengthen people-to-people exchanges, saying that the two sides must work more closely together in education, tourism and the Winter Olympics.