ASTANA: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday urged China and Russia to continuously conserve the unique value of China-Russia relations and explore the internal driving force of bilateral cooperation.
Xi made the remarks when meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana.
He also said that facing an international situation fraught with turbulence and changes, the two countries should keep upholding the original aspiration of lasting friendship and sticking to the determination of benefiting the people.
The two countries should also make efforts to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests and safeguard the basic norms governing international relations, Xi said.
The two countries should also make efforts to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests and safeguard the basic norms governing international relations, Xi said.
The two leaders’ last meeting took place from May 16 to 17, when Putin paid a state visit to China, his first overseas trip after the Russian leader was sworn in for a new term.
Experts said such high frequency of meetings signifies that under pressure from the West, Russia’s determination to “turn to the East” is becoming more rock-solid.
“This is especially important given today’s complex and chaotic world situation. And with the upcoming US presidential election, the international landscape is anticipated to become even more complicated,” Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Echoing Cui, Yang Jin, an associate research fellow with the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the close interaction between Xi and Putin is crucial for maintaining regional stability and peace, as well as setting the direction for advancing regional development.
The issue of counter-terrorism is the focus of this edition of the SCO summit, and it will also very likely be discussed at bilateral levels, Cui said.
“Russia this year has experienced a number of deadly terrorist attacks, and the risk of terrorism resurging in the Eurasian continent is becoming increasingly evident. The importance of counter-terrorism cooperation within the SCO for China and Russia is therefore becoming more prominent,” he noted.
Given the security deficit in the region and the lack of effectiveness for existing security mechanisms, the SCO has stepped up, taking joint actions to combat the “three evils” – terrorism, separatism and religious extremism, as well as in cross-border law enforcement cooperation, Cui said.
Practical cooperation, especially how to eliminate Western pressure and resistance, to better promote the steady development of trade exchanges between the two countries, is likely to be a major topic between the two leaders, Yang told the Global Times on Wednesday.
“This includes specific areas such as energy, cross-border transportation and new-energy sectors. Additionally, the two leaders may also discuss the construction of a new natural gas pipeline project between China and Russia, as well as the deepening of cooperation in Central Asia,” Yang said.
