Beijing. The Chinese government stated that it will “strengthen” its “strategic coordination” with Russia regardless of “the international situation,” with an eye toward “safeguarding the common interests of both parties.”
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng met the day before yesterday with Russian Ambassador Andrey Denisov to “exchange views on relations between Beijing and Moscow and the international and regional situation.”
The Chinese official told Denisov that “no matter how the international situation changes,” China, “as always,” will strengthen its “strategic coordination” with Russia to “promote the building of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future.”
According to the vice minister, under the leadership of China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, bilateral coordination “in the new era is developing at a high level and cooperation in various fields is on the rise.”
In the first quarter of this year, bilateral trade volume between the two countries reached 38.2 billion dollars, an increase of almost 30 percent, according to the released statement, which highlights that these figures show the “great resilience and endogenous strength of the cooperation” between the two nations.
Denisov noted that Russia “always regards” the development of relations with Beijing “as a priority of its diplomacy.” He also said he was “ready” to “follow the direction set by the two heads of state to further deepen comprehensive strategic coordination and practical cooperation, in order to continuously benefit the two peoples and uphold international fairness.”
The two officials exchanged views on international and regional issues of common interest, including Chinese-Russian cooperation within the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as the situation in Ukraine.
Agreement with the Solomon Islands
China and the Solomon Islands signed a controversial security agreement viewed with suspicion by both neighboring Australia and the United States, which warned that the pact opens the door to a hypothetical deployment of Chinese troops in the archipelago.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Solomon Islands counterpart, Jeremiah Manele, signed an agreement that, according to Beijing spokesman Wang Wenbin, will allow both parties to collaborate on matters such as “maintaining public order, the protection and safety of people and property, humanitarian assistance and response to natural disasters.”
