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Xi Hails China-Russia Relationship Ahead of Meeting With Putin in Moscow

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that his upcoming visit to Russia “will be a journey of friendship, cooperation and peace.”

March 20, 2023
Xi Hails China-Russia Relationship Ahead of Meeting With Putin in Moscow
									    
IMAGE SOURCE: MAXIM SHIPENKOV/AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, in 2019.

Ahead of his state visit to Russia, Chinese President Xi Jinping published an article on Monday, titled “Forging Ahead to Open a New Chapter of China-Russia Friendship, Cooperation and Common Development,” in the Russian Gazette and on the RIA Novosti website.

Xi noted at the outset that, over his last 10 years in power, he has made eight visits to Russia, from each of which, he has “returned with fruitful results, opening a new chapter” for bilateral relations.

Relations Over the Decade


Nothing that he had met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on 40 different occasions, Xi said that together, the two leaders have maintained “timely communication on major international and regional issues of mutual interest” and built a relationship that is “committed to no-alliance, no-confrontation and not targeting any third party.”

In a veiled jab at the US, Xi underscored that Russia and China were “practising true multilateralism” and had “worked together for a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations.”

Hailing the centrality of the UN, Xi stressed that China and Russia are “firmly committed to safeguarding the UN-centered international system, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.”


On Upcoming Visit

Xi, who is due to land in Russia this afternoon, said that his upcoming visit to Russia “will be a journey of friendship, cooperation and peace.”


“I look forward to working with President Putin to jointly adopt a new vision, a new blueprint and new measures for the growth of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in the years to come.”

The Chinese leader called on both sides to raise the quality and quantity of investment and economic cooperation and step up people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

On the Ukraine War

Xi said that the world today faces “profound changes unseen in a century,” as it is “confronted with complex and intertwined traditional and non-traditional security challenges, damaging acts of hegemony, domination and bullying, and long and tortuous global economic recovery.”

Acknowledging that there is “no simple solution to a complex issue,” such as the Ukraine war, the Chinese president said his country believes that “as long as all parties embrace the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and pursue equal-footed, rational and results-oriented dialogue and consultation, they will find a reasonable way to resolve the crisis as well as a broad path toward a world of lasting peace and common security.”