The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 2018 St Petersburg International Economic Forum, where the Chinese delegation was one of the largest with over 200 members.
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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Wang Qishan, friends and colleagues, I am delighted to welcome you to St Petersburg.
Thank you for accepting our invitation to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. The Chinese delegation is one of the largest here, with some 200 people, as far as I know. This is logical, because China is Russia’s largest trade and economic partner.
Please, convey my best wishes and gratitude to our friend, my friend President Xi Jinping, for organising this work and forming your delegation just as we agreed.
Chinese-Russian cooperation has reached an unprecedented level in terms of scale and quality. To a great extent, this is thanks to you, because you worked for a long time in many positions to strengthen our cooperation.
I would like to congratulate you on your promotion to the post of Vice President of the People’s Republic of China.
Vice President of the People’s Republic of China Wang Qishan (retranslated): I am very glad to visit St Petersburg. It is a great honour to meet you, President Putin.
First of all, Mr President, allow me to send you the warmest regards and best wishes from President Xi Jinping. President Xi highly values the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, and that is why he sent me to SPIEF as China’s representative.
I do understand that the main purpose of my trip is to participate and, therefore, support the forum. Tomorrow I will make a very brief statement. Since you, Mr President, are to visit China shortly to attend the SCO summit in Qingdao, my mission here is not only to support SPIEF but to prepare for your meeting with Xi Jinping.
I fully agree with what you said, Mr President, that the Russia-China relations of overarching partnership and strategic cooperation are constantly developing and have achieved a new high level.
Our relations of full-scale partnership and strategic cooperation are not the conventional relations of this kind. They are not simply bilateral. Since China and Russia are permanent UNSC members, both major powers, moving forward side by side, our relations influence the situation not only in Eurasia but in the entire world.
Currently, there are many problems but also many opportunities in the world, many risks and challenges and a great uncertainty. Our relations of full-scale partnership and strategic cooperation are particularly important in these circumstances.
Mutual respect is one of the key prerequisites in our relations. We deeply respect each other’s key interests. Moreover, our cooperation is equitable, inclusive and is based on strong mutual political trust.
This mutual political trust allows us to develop our relations in the economy, social sphere and culture, and in all other areas.
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