Beijing, April 9 (IANS) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov in Beijing Tuesday, and both sides expressed hope for strengthening practical cooperation in various fields.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, extended congratulations to President Putin on his reelection, Xinhua news agency reported.
Wang said that China will continue to support Russia’s development and revitalisation under the leadership of President Putin and support the Russian people’s independent choice of development path.
Wang said that the China-Russia relations have been of irreplaceable value to maintaining global strategic stability. Maintaining and developing sound China-Russia relations is the natural choice of the two major, neighboring countries and serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples.
Wang said China is willing to work with Russia, in accordance with the consensus reached by the two heads of state, to strengthen the synergy of the two countries’ development plans and promote practical cooperation in various fields.
Lavrov noted that Russia-China relations are based on mutual respect, equal cooperation and trustworthy dialogue. Russia abides by the one-China principle and is willing to work with China to maintain close high-level exchanges, and deepen practical cooperation in economy, trade and other fields.
Russia supports the Global Security Initiative, and is willing to deepen cooperation with China on multilateral platforms to promote the establishment of a more just and democratic international order, Lavrov added.
The two sides also had in-depth exchanges of view on the Ukraine issue, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and other international and regional issues of common concern.
–IANS
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