The presidents of China, Xi Jinpingand from Russia, Vladimir Putinindicated this Wednesday that the «common threats» in the world strengthen their relationships and They praised the «growing mutual trust» after meeting in Beijing on the sidelines of an international forum marking the 10th anniversary of China’s New Silk Roads infrastructure initiative.
The fraternity
«External factors and conflicts in the development of Russian-Chinese relations are common threats that reinforce cooperation between Russia and China,» declared the Kremlin leader a few hours after the meeting that represented his first trip to a world power since the war with Ukraine began in February of last year. And he stated that he «looks optimistically at the prospects» of cooperation with his Chinese ally, essential for Moscow at a time when Western sanctions weigh on the Russian economy.
The Chinese president praised the state of relations between both countries and highlighted that «political trust is continually deepening,» with «close and effective strategic coordination and bilateral trade at historic highs,» according to the Chinese state agency Xinhua. «We met 42 times in the past ten years. We developed a good working relationship and deep friendship,» Xi added.
During the meeting, Xi celebrated that the governments of both countries «are putting into practice the important consensuses» that the two leaders reached during their previous meetings. «Bilateral trade is at historic highs, constantly moving towards the goal we set of 200 billion dollars,» said the Chinese president..
After recalling that next year will mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of relations between both countries, Xi noted that China wants to work with Russia to «capture the historical trend of global development based on the interests of our two peoples.» «We have to continue enriching our bilateral cooperation, reflecting our responsibility as powers, and continue contributing to the modernization of our two countries,» she said. For it, Xi said, «we must make efforts to jointly safeguard international justice and promote global development.».
The New Silk Roads
At the forum’s opening ceremony, Xi said the New Silk Roads initiative «aims to increase political, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity, inject new impetus into the global economy,» Xi said. before representatives of 130 countries, including Putin.
Also He noted that his country opposes «unilateral sanctions, economic coercion, dissociation and disengagement» and that it will not participate in «ideological confrontations, geopolitical games and bloc confrontations», in reference to Western powers. «Seeing the development of others as a threat and independence as a risk will not improve one’s life or accelerate one’s development,» she added.
Xi, immersed in recent days in a hectic schedule of meetings with the leaders who attended the meeting, tried to seduce the representatives present with multimillion-dollar promises, while, after the closing, the Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, announced that This edition left agreements worth 97.2 billion dollars. The previous forum was held in April 2019 and closed with agreements worth $64 billion.
Putin’s support
At the time of his presentation in the forum, Putin praised the idea of the Route and stressed that his country shares with China «an aspiration, which is a beneficial cooperation that respects the cultural diversity and development models of each country. We are happy with the success of this initiative, capable of connecting and integrating various regions of the world.»
«We hope that the Routes really provide collective and effective solutions to relevant international problems,» he noted and stated that connectivity is «important for everyone, to create new logistics nodes and have corridors that offer diversification of supplies.» This «global plan» is accelerating «the integration of several regions, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU),» he highlighted.