Beijing (agencies)
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced yesterday that maintaining close relations with Russia is a “strategic choice,” calling for deeper bilateral cooperation during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Beijing. In Xi's statements, which were reported by Chinese television CCTV, he said, “Maintaining and developing relations between China and Russia is a strategic choice made by both sides, based on the fundamental interests of our two peoples.” Xi added that the two countries should “continuously amplify the positive effects of their high-level political relations” and “deepen their cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, energy, communications and other sectors.” Xi Jinping continued to say, during talks with the Russian Prime Minister, that by the end of this year, the volume of trade between Moscow and Beijing will reach $218.28 billion, according to the Russian Sputnik news agency. He added, “The mission that we set five years ago between me and Russian President Vladimir Putin, to raise the volume of bilateral trade to $200 billion, was accomplished ahead of schedule, and this reflects the positive dynamic of cooperation between the two countries.”
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