President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Your Excellency Mr Vice President, Comrade Han Zheng, once again, welcome to St Petersburg.
You and I have just taken part in the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, which serves as one of the leading platforms for discussing economic matters. However, as we saw during the session, there is no getting away from political issues.
In any case, I would like to thank you for your substantive and insightful presentation, as well as the fact that the People’s Republic of China is represented at the level of Vice President, which is a very high level. This adds a certain global dimension to this forum. You have my gratitude for coming here. Of course, I would like to ask you to convey my best wishes to my friend, President of the PRC Xi Jinping for taking the decision to send you to Russia, to St Petersburg.
As you have just noted during your remarks at the session, the relations between our countries are at their all-time high and have gathered substantial momentum. Our trade and economic ties have been following an upward trajectory in keeping with the Treaty. We are marking its anniversary this year. July 16 will mark 25 years since the signing of the fundamental treaty on friendship and cooperation between Russia and China.
I have mentioned trade and economic cooperation. Trade has been rising steadily. A growth rate of 10 percent is quite a positive result, and we hope to keep this momentum going.
There is a list of joint projects for specific sectors, and we know them. This includes energy, manufacturing, agriculture, transport, logistics, innovation, civilian nuclear programmes, space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Congratulations on your achievements in this very important domain. China has been demonstrating excellent results, I would say.
There is no doubt that holding the years of cooperation in education in 2026 and 2027 is expected to make a meaningful contribution to expanding our humanitarian ties. I am convinced that this would promote direct contacts between our citizens.
Once again, thank you so much for coming to St Petersburg and attending the economic forum here.
Vice President of China Han Zheng (retranslated): Mr President, thank you. I’m delighted to see you again.
This time, I’m visiting St Petersburg at the instruction of President Xi Jinping, to take part in the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
First of all, I want to pass sincere regards and best wishes from President Xi Jinping. Congratulations on the success of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Your address was very substantive. Not only did you analyse the global economic situation and the economic development in Russia, but you also outlined some important plans for Russia’s economic development. So, congratulations.
Recently, you and President Xi held successful talks in Beijing. When answering questions, I explained the importance of those talks at length. You reached some extremely important new agreements on the development of bilateral relations and multi-dimensional cooperation. We reaffirm our readiness to fulfill our agreements at the top level, in cooperation with our Russian colleagues, to deepen our political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, and enrich our bilateral relations with new monumental meaning.
This year, we mark 30 years of strategic cooperation and partnership and 25 years of the Treaty of Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation. As part of this landmark year, we are ready to advance our bilateral multidimensional cooperation and bilateral relations.
Thank you.
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