Chinese President Xi Jinping said that his visit to Russia is aimed at strengthening friendship, cooperation and peace. On March 20, he wrote about this in an author’s article for the Russian media, published in RIA News and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
“My upcoming visit to Russia is aimed at strengthening friendship, cooperation and peace. I am ready, together with President Vladimir Putin, to outline new plans and measures in the name of opening up new prospects for China-Russia relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction,” he said in the article.
Xi Jinping also noted that the current level of Sino-Russian relations was not easy, it is necessary to carefully maintain friendship between the countries.
According to him, China and Russia should deepen cultural and humanitarian ties and hold joint sports events at a high level.
The PRC President stressed that China and the Russian Federation are strengthening mutual political trust and creating a new paradigm of relations between major powers.
Earlier, on March 17, the Kremlin press service reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, would pay a state visit to Russia on March 20-22. An exchange of views is planned between politicians in the context of deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation. Signing of a number of important bilateral documents is also expected.
As Vladimir Portyakov, chief researcher at the Center for Political Studies and Forecasts of the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia at the same time, the visit of the PRC chairman to Russia is important for discussing the current international situation. According to the expert, there are some discrepancies between Moscow and Beijing. For example, this concerns the ownership of Crimea. Also, Russia and China have a different approach to relations with the United States.
