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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, friends, good evening,

I am very pleased to receive you in Moscow and I want to thank you for the fact that this year, as Russia chairs Background information BRICS BRICS and the  Background information Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Shanghai Treaty Organisation (SCO), you and your colleagues have actually launched a new format of cooperation within the BRICS framework – top-level inter-parliamentary contacts ahead of the heads of state summits.

I know that today, you have also had a meeting in the new format with your Russian colleagues, when you met with our parliament members, both from the upper and lower houses of the Russian parliament. All these are significant steps in preparing for the summit, which we are awaiting with our great friend and my personal friend, Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Xi Jinping.

Welcome!

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China Zhang Dejiang (retranslated): Mr President, I am very grateful that although you are very busy, you have found the time to meet with me and my colleagues.

Before my departure, Chairman Xi Jinping personally asked me to give you his warm greetings and his best wishes; and now, I am fulfilling his instructions.

The second goal of my visit today is to actively respond to the Russian initiative, to participate in the first parliamentary forum within the BRICS framework. Thanks to the successful chairmanship of my distinguished colleagues, Ms Matviyenko and Mr Naryshkin, this first BRICS parliamentary forum was very successful.

And the third objective of my visit today concerns the mechanism of inter-parliamentary contacts and exchanges. As you recall, in 2005, we created a mechanism for inter-parliamentary contacts and exchanges. Last year, we approved and signed the charter of the new inter-parliamentary commission, and this year, for the first time and in accordance with the new charter, we are holding the first meeting within the framework of this mechanism.

Together with Ms Matviyenko and Mr Naryshkin, we held very important meetings and talks. Moreover, we also jointly held the first meeting of our inter-parliamentary commission, which was a complete success.

Just recently, a ship capsized on the Yangtze river. With this in mind, Mr President, you sent a very timely message expressing your condolences to Chairman Xi Jinping. In it, we saw the deep sympathy on behalf of the President and the Russian people toward the people of China, and we are very grateful to you.

I also want to congratulate you on successfully holding celebrations marking the 70^th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. This is highly important, since these events were held under Mr President’s direct leadership.

On your invitation, Chairman Xi Jinping participated in the celebratory events, and I want to note that these events were held at a very high level. We all watched the broadcast on television – it was very inspiring.

Upon returning home, Chairman Xi Jinping shared his impressions of his visit and the events with us, as well as the important results following his meeting and talks with you, Mr President. And all this is very inspiring.

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