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The two sides discussed both bilateral and international issues. Following the meeting, several economic agreements were signed in the presence of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, including the Strategic Cooperation Agreement between Russian Technologies (Rostekhnologii) State Corporation and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), purchase-sale agreement for shares in Russia’s Yamal LNG gas company, and basic agreement for the supply of Russian natural gas to China via the so-called eastern route.

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Beginning of meeting with President of China Xi Jinping

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, dear Chinese friends,

Allow me to warmly welcome you all to Russia and to St Petersburg.

I would like to thank you for accepting our invitation and coming to the G20.

We will begin our meeting today again with a meeting of the  Background information BRICS BRICS countries [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa], but Russian-Chinese relations have their own value, and I welcome this opportunity to discuss our bilateral relations.

We are in constant personal contact, and Russian and Chinese counterparts at various levels of authority and in various fields are in constant contact too. Relations between our countries are developing dynamically.

I am very pleased to see you in person today. Welcome.

President of China Xi Jinping (re-translated): Mr President Putin, my very good friend. Thank you very much for your invitation. It is very nice to see you in St Petersburg, your hometown.

You know that recently there has been a difficult situation on the Amur [River] caused by flooding. And Russia’s Far East has been hit by the most serious floods in the past 125 years.

I wish to express my condolences in this regard. We also suffered greatly from these floods, which caused serious damage. Nevertheless, I would like to emphasise that as we both engaged in flood control our nations and governments maintained very close contacts and cooperated closely as well.

This once again bears witness to the fraternal feelings that join the peoples living in our border regions. I strongly believe that through joint efforts, together we shall be able to overcome the disaster.

As for the G20 summit in St Petersburg, it is a very important event that allows leading economies to meet and discuss major economic development problems. It also speaks to Russia’s rising global position, as well as its identity as a great power. I sincerely congratulate you on this and would like to wish the summit every success in advance.

It has been three months since our last meeting. During this time, both sides have pledged to implement agreements we’ve concluded and cooperation projects we’ve agreed on. Today I would estimate that those involved have effectively implemented and made major breakthroughs on 50 joint projects in 16 different areas. I am very pleased by this achievement.

Mr President, today I’m ready to engage in deep and thorough discussions with you on these issues, as well as on all issues that hold a mutual interest.

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