China, Russia pledge to enhance extensive cooperation, legislative coordination

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 25, 2019. Li paid an official goodwill visit to Russia from Sept. 25 to 28. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

MOSCOW, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Li Zhanshu and top Russian officials have agreed to further strengthen bilateral comprehensive cooperation and continue to promote legislative coordination for stronger ties.

Li, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, on Saturday completed an official visit to Russia, during which he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of both houses of the Russian parliament.

The Russian leaders congratulated China on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and hailed the great achievements China has made in the past seven decades. The two sides also exchanged congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia.

When meeting Putin, Li said, under the strategic guidance of the heads of state of the two countries, China-Russia relations have hit an unprecedented high and entered a new era of higher level and greater development.

Under the current international situation, China and Russia should strengthen mutual support, jointly build strategic support and security barriers between the two countries, and promote the construction of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind, Li said.

He called on the two sides to bring their political mutual trust and strategic cooperation to a new height, and push economic and trade cooperation to a new level, so as to move forward their comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

For his part, Putin lauded Russia-China ties as a model of relations between the world's major countries.

He said the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era between the two countries, built in compliance with the international law, is in the interests of the two countries and the two peoples.

Noting that the current bilateral cooperation in various areas is steadily advancing towards the established goals, Putin urged the two countries to further strengthen all-round cooperation and develop their ties on the basis of existing achievements.

Li also met with Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Russian Federation Council, or the upper house of parliament, and Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian State Duma, or the lower house of parliament.

During his talks with the heads of Russian parliament, Li said the cooperation between legislative bodies, as an important part of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, is expected to prioritize the implementation of the consensus reached by the two heads of state.

According to him, the two sides should promote communication and collaboration for the sake of the development of bilateral ties and, in particular, strengthen the exchanges of experience on foreign-related legal construction, so as to effectively deal with unilateralism and protectionism as well as defend the national sovereignty, security and interests of the two countries.

Li also called for better synergy between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, further cooperation in high-tech fields as well as sub-national cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

For her part, Matviyenko said China's development has proved to the world that a country can follow its own development path in line with its national conditions.

She said the people of the two countries work closely together and respect each other's national interests, adding that no matter how the international situation changes, the long-term friendly cooperation between the two countries will remain unchanged.

The legislative bodies of the two countries should provide legal support and guarantee for the development of bilateral relations, Matviyenko said.

Volodin also urged the legislative bodies to make good use of existing cooperation mechanisms in a bid to promote cooperation in various fields, resist external interference and safeguard a fair and just international order.

Li and Volodin also attended the fifth meeting of the China-Russia committee for parliamentary cooperation.

In his speech, Li talked about China's historic achievements in the past 70 years and spoke highly of the contribution of legislative cooperation to the development of bilateral relations.

He expressed hopes that both sides, after thorough studies, will come up with new ideas and new measures for legislative cooperation in a new era, better use the committee for parliamentary cooperation as a platform, and further enrich China-Russia relations.

While in Moscow, the top Chinese legislator also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and inspected the Moscow metro project of the China Railway Construction Corporation.

He also exchanged views on strengthening local cooperation with Rustam Minnikhanov, president of Russia's Tatarstan Republic, in its capital of Kazan and visited the Kazan Helicopter Plant and Kazan Federal University.