Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will embark on a visit to Beijing on Tuesday for the 22nd China-Russia Prime Ministers' Regular Meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Ahead of the visit, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin met in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Monday.
The upcoming meeting will be the first high-level exchange between Chinese and Russian governments since the conclusion of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) last week, Wang told Rogozin. "I believe it is significant in that it inherits the past and ushers in the future for our cooperation," the Chinese vice premier added.
During the past five years, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has been at its "best time in history," Wang noted, saying that bilateral cooperation has achieved fruitful results.
He said bilateral trade continues to rebound this year and has good prospects for further development. He hopes both countries keep exploring new areas for cooperation such as the development of the Far East and the Arctic, and the digital economy.
Rogozin agreed that the relationship between the two countries is at its best time in history. "We're not just good working partners," he said. "We're also close friends. We help each other solve complicated problems while trying to promote exchanges between enterprises from both countries."
The mechanism of China-Russia Prime Ministers' Regular Meeting was established in 1996.
Frequent high-level exchanges
China and Russia have built a high level of political and strategic trust and established a means for high-level exchanges. In recent years, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have developed a close relationship. They meet about five times a year on average.
Last Thursday, the two leaders talked by phone. Putin congratulated Xi on his re-election as the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Xi pledged that China is determined to deepen its relationship with Russia.
Meanwhile, the two sides are working to align their development strategies. Xi and Putin have reached an agreement to strengthen the complementarity of China's Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union proposed by Russia.
During the meeting, Rogozin also stressed the importance of efforts such as the Yangtze River-Volga River cooperation mechanism. China and Russia established this mechanism in 2013, and Chongqing is just one of the important regions within it. Chen Min'er, Party chief of Chongqing CPC Municipal Committee, said the city would take this opportunity to further boost the overall relationship between the two countries.
Li and Medvedev are scheduled to hold an annual meeting in Beijing on Wednesday. The Chinese premier is expected to brief his Russian counterpart on the 19th CPC National Congress and draw a new blueprint for the development of ties with Russia, according to experts.
