During his annual press conference held on 23 December 2021, President Putin took a question from the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
In answering the question he described the nature and state of relations between Russia and China.
Xinhua
Ao Li: Xinhua news agency, China.
You recently held talks with President of China Xi Jinping via videoconference. You remarked that Russia‒China relations are a true example of cooperation between states in the 21st century.
Today, in view of the current complicated international situation, how should we understand this description?
Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: That is exactly how you should understand it. There is no hidden meaning. Indeed, the relationship between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation has evolved to be as I described it. Perhaps you noticed that President Xi Jinping and I always address each other as “my friend.” And it is true: we have a very trusting personal relationship that helps our professional relationship as well.
In terms of the economy, first of all, Asia is a rapidly and successfully developing region, and China is the absolute leader of both the global and Asian economy. It is only natural that we are developing our economic relationship with China. Bilateral trade currently exceeds US$100 billion, which is above the pre-pandemic level. China is our biggest trade and economic partner with which we cooperate in many different fields.
In terms of energy, both China and Russia committed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. But before that deadline, we will be supplying all types of energy resources to China. We are willing to continue beyond the deadline because life will not stop in our countries in 2060, and there are many ways to achieve carbon neutrality, even while still using hydrocarbons, provided that they are used appropriately.
We continue to cooperate in nuclear energy, high technology and space – in almost every industry, including technology-intensive sectors.
Our people-to-people cooperation includes organising mutual years of youth exchanges, years of science, education, culture and so on. These initiatives, of course, bring people together at the most basic level, in humanitarian sphere.
We cooperate on security. The Chinese army is extensively equipped with the most advanced weapons. We even develop some technologically advanced weapons together. We cooperate in space and aviation, on both airplanes and helicopters. Finally, we promote cooperation between our armed forces through joint military exercise and international military games, joint maritime and air patrols. Ours is an overarching partnership of strategic nature that has no precedents in history, at least not between Russia and China.
This daily hard work benefits both the Chinese and Russian people. It is, of course, a strong stabilising factor in the international arena. /// nCa, 27 December 2021 – complete text of the press conference can be found at the official website of the President of Russia at this link http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67438