Russian and Chinese leaders meet ahead of G-20

Speaking at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia's ancient capital of St. Petersburg on September 5, host country President Vladimir Putin said that Russia-China relations are developing very positively at the present stage.

The meeting took place hours before the opening of the Group of 20 (G-20) Summit.

During the talks, the two heads of state expressed their desire to improve bilateral cooperation in important projects and strengthen strategic coordination between Russia and China in international and regional forums.

President Putin said he was pleased to establish close, regular relations with his Chinese counterpart, as well as positive relations at other levels between Russia and China.

Mr. Putin assessed that Russia and China cooperate in many international organizations, but the Russia-China relationship always has independent values.

After this meeting, Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi Jinping will work together within the framework of the BRICS group (including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

For his part, President Xi Jinping expressed his sympathy to President Putin for the recent damage caused by floods in the Far East. Xi Jinping stressed that the people and governments of the two countries have had the closest ties in efforts to combat natural disasters, and that such joint efforts are evidence of the friendship between the people living in the border areas in particular and between the Russian and Chinese peoples in general.

At the end of the talks, the two sides signed many important economic documents such as the cooperation agreement between the two cities of St. Petersburg and Shanghai of China, the strategic cooperation agreement between the Russian technology corporation Rostechnologia and the Chinese aerospace and industrial corporation, the agreement to supply Russian gas via the Eastern pipeline route, estimated to be worth up to 25 billion USD/year, between the Gazprom State Corporation and the China National Petroleum Corporation.

The meeting on September 5 was the second meeting between the two heads of state of Russia and China since March this year, when Mr. Xi Jinping paid an official visit to Moscow./.

According to (TTXVN) - DT