Various bilateral issues were discussed, as well as details of the upcoming visit to Russia by President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping.
* * *
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Comrade Yang Jiechi, dear friends. It is a pleasure to see you.
I would like to start our meeting by noting that our relations are developing as planned, everything is going according to our plan. This is largely due to the proactive stance of our reliable, good friend President Xi Jinping.
Please convey my best wishes to him. We are looking forward to his visit. It will take place in Vladivostok this September and then together we will take part in the Vladivostok Economic Forum.
Last year bilateral trade amounted to $87 billion. In the first half of this year alone it increased by 50 percent, and this year it will likely reach $100 billion.
I know that you have already held fairly detailed talks today with Mr Patrushev. I am very pleased.
Member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Yang Jiechi (retranslated): Your Excellency Mr President, I am very grateful to you for meeting with me and my colleagues today. I will pass along your best wishes to PresidentXi Jinping by all means. Allow me to also convey to you PresidentXi’s best wishes and warm regards.
Your Excellency Mr President, in June you paid a state visit to Beijing and then attended the Qingdao Summit. In July of this year, you took part in the BRICS Summit together with President Xi Jinping.
During these events, you had a detailed conversation with PresidentXi Jinping on a broad range of issues. All of your meetings were highly important and added a powerful new impetus to the development of bilateral relations.
Following the generous invitation, President Xi Jinping will attend the forthcoming Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. A regular top-level meeting of the two leaders will also take place.
We believe the forthcoming meeting will be a major event in the foreign policies of China and Russia. There is no doubt that the next Russia-China summit will be crowned with great success. We would also like to wish success to the forthcoming Eastern Economic Forum.
There will be many opportunities for top-level bilateral meetings on the sidelines of international events before the end of the year. It is important for us to fully prepare for these meetings.
You were absolutely right in saying that bilateral trade and economic ties are continuously growing both in quantity and quality, and we can expect trade to reach $100 billion.
At the instruction of the leaders of the two countries, Mr Patrushev and I conducted a regular round of consultations on strategic security. Our consultations focused on practical matters, and were highly productive.
We are very grateful to Russia for the warm reception and excellent organisation of our stay. I have already invited Mr Patrushev to attend a regular round of consultations on strategic security next year.
Mr Putin, thank you once again for receiving us today.
Vladimir Putin: For our part, we remember the truly warm and friendly reception we enjoyed in China last June, almost like family, I would say.
We will do our best to offer the same to President Xi Jinping. I do not know if we succeed, but we would like to do this very much, in both substance and form.
<…>