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Wang Yi Attends the Reception Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation
2021-07-11 14:46

On July 11, 2021, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended and addressed the Reception Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation in Beijing.

On behalf of the Chinese government, Wang Yi expressed his warmest congratulations and heartfelt gratitude to the people from all walks of life in China and Russia who have long dedicated themselves to promoting the development of relations between the two countries. Wang Yi said, 20 years ago, the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation was signed by the two countries based on a comprehensive summary of historical lessons learned and understanding of world trends, which sets the keynote of "enduring friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation" and the core value of "showing firm support for each other" for relations between the two countries, and bestows the common mission of "strengthening international peace, stability, development, and cooperation" on both sides. Just days ago, President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin unanimously agreed to issue a joint statement, officially announcing the extension of the Treaty, and reaffirming that the two countries will develop their relations in line with the philosophy of enduring friendship and win-win cooperation. This important statement not only fully recognizes the historical significance and practical value of the Treaty, but is also a firm commitment to the spirit and principle of the Treaty, and in particular, calls for the advancement of China-Russia relations in the new era.

Wang Yi emphasized, over the past 20 years, under the guidance of the Treaty, China-Russia ties have withstood challenges and risks and forged ahead with firmness amidst rapid changes in the international situation, and always maintained a sound momentum and reached historical highs one after another.

Over the past 20 years, the two countries have set an example of how major countries should come into contact with each other and how neighbors coexist by giving each other respect, trust and support. The two sides have thoroughly resolved the historical border issues through equal consultations, making the more than 4,300 kilometers of common border a bond of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. The two sides have always respected the development path chosen by the other side in light of its national conditions, firmly supported each other in safeguarding its core interests, built up a high degree of political mutual trust and strategic tacit understanding, and offered solid strategic support for each other's security and development.

Over the past 20 years, the two countries have set an example of win-win cooperation and progress hand in hand through good neighborliness and mutual benefit and assistance. Both sides have, regarding the enhancement of the well-being of the two peoples as a priority in their development of bilateral relations, fully tapped complementary advantages, adhered to the principle of open and shared development, removed barriers to cooperation in all fields, and thus recorded an increasingly longer list of cooperation and bigger steps toward cooperation. Bilateral trade volume has increased nearly 14-fold from 8 billion U.S. dollars in 2000 to 107.77 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.

Over the past 20 years, the two countries have set an example of maintaining peace and upholding justice by working closely with each other and fighting side by side. The two sides have jointly opposed hegemonism, power politics and other wrongdoings, fully fulfilled international obligations, vigorously promoted multilateralism, demonstrated the assumption of due responsibilities by major countries, and made irreplaceable contributions to maintaining the established international order and solving global issues.

Noting that human development is now standing on the precipice of multiple crises in an increasingly fluid and changing world due to the combined effects of unprecedented global changes and a once-in-a-century pandemic and that old-fashioned thoughts, such as cold-war mentality, hegemony and power politics, which have long been swept into the trash bin of history, are coming life again and hoping to regain momentum, Wang Yi said, no matter how the international landscape might change, the original aspiration of China and Russia for enduring friendship and win-win cooperation will not be changed, the two sides' sincerity to support each other will not be changed, and the two sides' resolve to defend peace and justice will not be changed.

We should further deepen political mutual trust, and always serve each other's strong supporter. Under the joint leadership of the two heads of state, we will continue to expand contacts at all levels, consolidate back-to-back, shoulder-to-shoulder strategic cooperation, work together to protect the core interests of both countries, promote the development and revitalization of both countries, and maintain the security and stability of regions around both countries, and continuously raise the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, which is "not an ally but better than an ally", to new highs.

We should further deepen pragmatic cooperation to continuously inject strong impetus into bilateral relations. We should enhance the connectivity of development strategies between the two countries, carry deeper the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Eurasian Economic Union, continue to expand cooperation in the fields of low-carbon energy, digital economy, agriculture and vaccines, simultaneously improve the quality and volume of pragmatic cooperation, and make joint efforts to improve the two countries' potential of economic development and effectiveness of benefiting the people.

We should make people-to-people and cultural exchanges even closer to continuously cement the public opinion foundation for enduring friendship between China and Russia. We should increase people-to-people exchanges which are grounded and gain popularity, raise the level of cooperation in education, sports, medicine, tourism, media, think tanks, youth and other fields, allow our two cultures to identify each other to a bigger degree, push the two countries to draw reference upon each other's civilization, and encourage Chinese and Russian young people to understand and be on good terms with each other, so that the tradition of good-neighborliness and friendship between Russia and China will be passed on from one generation to another.

We should further step up strategic coordination to firmly foster a strong pillar for maintaining world peace and security. We will hold high the banner of multilateralism, oppose hegemonism and power politics, resist the "new cold war" and bloc confrontation, continue to uphold the UN-centered international system and the international order based on international law, and facilitate the process of a multi-polar world and democracy in international relations. We will continue to strengthen coordination and cooperation on regional hotspot issues and global issues such as counter-terrorism and climate change, and make every effort to maintain global peace, security and strategic stability.

Wang Yi said, recently China has grandly celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on which President Putin and Russian people from all walks of life expressed their congratulations in many ways. Russia has also made new achievements in developing its economy, improving people's livelihood and enhancing its international influence. Looking ahead, the two sides should roll up sleeves to work harder together to enhance mutual trust between the two countries at a higher level and deepen cooperation in a wider range of fields, and write an even more splendid chapter for China-Russia relations at a new historical starting point.

Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov once again offered warm congratulations on the centenary of the CPC. Denisov said, without the CPC, there would be no New China. Building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and scoring a complete victory in eradicating absolute poverty are historic achievements in human civilization.

Denisov said, the Russia-China Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation has laid a solid foundation for the steady development of relations between the two countries and lifted the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era to an all-time high. Following the spirit of the Treaty, both sides have promoted fruitful cooperation in various fields. Especially in the face of COVID-19 disruptions and changes in the landscape of the world, Russia-China cooperation has shown strong stability and resilience, just like a Chinese saying goes, "real gold does not fear the test of fire". Last month, Russian and Chinese presidents issued a joint statement on the extension of the Treaty, setting more ambitious development goals for the cooperation between the two countries. Russia will do its utmost to achieve the new goals together with China.

A video clip in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation was broadcast at the reception. Before the reception, Wang Yi had a friendly meeting with Denisov.

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