China's President , Xi Jinping, arrived in Moscow for a 3-day state visit to meet Vladimir Putin, days after the international criminal court charged the Russian president with war crimes in Ukraine.
Below is the full text transcript in English of the opening remarks independently translated from the official version:
Vladimir Putin: Dear Mr. Chairman, Dear friend! Welcome to Russia, to Moscow.
I am glad to have the opportunity to personally congratulate you on your re-election as head of the Chinese state. This was made possible because the Chinese people and their representatives appreciated your work over the previous decades.
In recent years, China has made a tremendous leap forward in its development. All over the world, this causes genuine interest, and we even envy you a little.
China has created a very effective system for developing the economy and strengthening the state. It is much more efficient than in many other countries of the world, this is an obvious fact. Market mechanisms are combined with a fairly confident political course and bring visible results. I am sure that under your leadership, China will take further steps in its development in the coming years and will certainly achieve the goals you have set for yourself.
It is symbolic that exactly 10 years ago we met here – you made your first visit as President of the People's Republic of China to Russia. During this time, we have taken significant steps in the development of our relations. Our trade turnover has more than doubled: it was, in my opinion, 87-odd - now it is already under 200, 185 billion dollars. We have a lot of joint tasks and goals.
I know that you personally, all our Chinese friends pay great attention to the development of Russian-Chinese relations, take a fair, balanced position on most pressing international problems. We have carefully studied your proposals for resolving the acute crisis in Ukraine. Of course, we will have the opportunity to discuss this issue. We know that you proceed from the principles of justice and observance of the fundamental provisions of international law, indivisible security for all countries. You are also aware that we are always open to the negotiation process. We will, of course, discuss all these issues, including your initiatives, which we treat with respect, of course.
In general, our interaction in the international arena, of course, contributes to the strengthening of the fundamental principles of the world order and multipolarity. There are a lot of questions in the sphere of economic cooperation. Tomorrow we will be able to talk about this with the participation of our partners and colleagues. Today I am very glad that you found it possible, found the time to come in the evening, in an informal, friendly atmosphere to talk calmly on all issues of interest to us.
Welcome!
Xi Jinping: Dear President Putin, I always call you my dear friend.
I am very pleased at your invitation to once again pay a state visit to Russia, especially immediately after my next re-election as the President of the PRC, and I chose Russia as the first country of my foreign visit.
You just recalled that exactly ten years ago, when I first became President of the People's Republic of China, I also chose Russia as the first country for my first foreign visit. You reminded me of this, and to this day these pictures are well preserved in my heart.
The Chinese side pays great attention to the development of Chinese-Russian relations, since this has its own historical logic, since we are the largest neighboring countries. We are partners of comprehensive strategic interaction and cooperation, and it is this status that determines that there should be close relations between our countries.
Immediately after the successful conclusion of the 20th Congress of the the Communist Party of China (CPC), as well as after the recent session of the Chinese Parliament, after my successful re-election as the Secretary General of the CPC and also as the President of the People's Republic of China, you immediately sent me congratulatory telegrams. Once again, I express my deep gratitude to you.
I know that presidential elections will take place in your country next year. Thanks to your strong leadership, Russia has made significant progress in recent years in achieving results and prosperity for the country. I am sure that the Russian people will strongly support you in your good undertakings.
Indeed, our countries share many of the same or similar goals as we move forward.
Both of our countries are currently making great efforts to achieve our goal of development and prosperity. For example, we set the task of carrying out modernization in the Chinese model. Russia has also set ambitious goals for the development of the country. I am sure that with our cooperation and close interaction we will definitely achieve these goals together.
I am also very grateful to you that over the past years, regarding the development and construction of China, you have always had a positive attitude towards us, you always support us, and of course we feel this, we are grateful to you.
In the development of Chinese-Russian international strategic cooperation, we must, on the one hand, achieve the goal of ensuring justice and equality in the world, and on the other hand, achieve further development and prosperity in this process in our countries.
I am very grateful to you for your very good initiatives, for the fact that today we will hold a friendly lunch in a one-on-one format, so that during this communication we could exchange questions of a bilateral nature, as well as all issues of a mutual interest.
Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.
