Chinese president discusses ties, global issues with Russian counterpart

Chinese President Xi Jinping met here Thursday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin before the Group of 20 (G20) summit. Xi said he is happy to see that both countries have made great efforts to implement more than 50 cooperation projects in 16 fields since his last meeting with Putin in March. Both leaders have attached great importance to bilateral cooperation, Xi said, expressing hope that the two countries could accelerate cooperation on major strategic projects in such fields as energy and aviation, and continue to deepen military cooperation to meet new threats and challenges. Putin, for his part, said he is satisfied with the rapid growth of Russia-China relations, noting that the two countries have kept frequent high-level exchanges and have been making progress in cooperation in various fields. Russia hopes to raise the level of bilateral cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, energy, industry, high-tech and military to serve the development of the two countries, safeguard global peace and stability and constantly consolidate the foundation of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. On global issues, Xi said that in the face of profound and complicated changes in international situation, China is willing to cooperate closely with Russia in strengthening macro-economic policy coordination, boosting reforms of global economic and financial systems, fighting against trade and investment protectionism and safeguarding the interests of the emerging markets. Putin said Russia is willing to strengthen coordination with China at the G20 summit to push for achievements in such major issues as world economic growth, international financial system reforms and safeguarding the interests of the emerging markets. He also called on the BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, to beef up coordination and cooperation. Meanwhile, the Chinese president noted that the two countries have kept close cooperation in fighting against the flood that caused great loss recently in Russia's Far East region and Northeast China, which shows the strong relationship between the two peoples. After their talks, the two presidents witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation documents in such fields as energy, aviation and cooperation at local levels. This is the second meeting between Xi and Putin within half a year after Xi paid a state visit to Russia in March.