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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, dear friend,

Chinese colleagues, friends,

We are all happy to see you again, this time on the sidelines of the SCO summit.

Allow me to start right where we left off at our last meeting. I remember how warmly you welcomed us all in China. I would like to thank you again for the hospitality you showed us, on behalf of my colleagues and myself.

We had very substantive talks, signed a joint policy statement and launched the Cross Years of Culture. Later on, as we visited Harbin, we had more opportunities to see how close the historical ties between Russia and China are.

Back to this meeting and tomorrow’s events – I would like to remind you that our countries stood at the cradle of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2001. As the number of participants grew – and tomorrow Belarus will become another full member of the organisation – the SCO also gained a bigger role as one of the key pillars of a just multipolar world order. We will certainly support China’s chairmanship of the SCO in 2024–2025 in every way.

We have repeatedly stated with good reason that Russia-China relations, our comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation, are going through the best period in their history. They are guided by the principles of equality, mutual benefit and respect for each other’s sovereignty. Our cooperation is not directed against anyone. We do not create any blocs or alliances; we are simply acting in the interests of our people.

Russia and China continue the series of events dedicated to the 75^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our countries we are marking this year.

Trade is on the rise – we noted this during my visit to the People’s Republic of China, and we can reaffirm this today. We saw more positive trends in the first half of this year.

At present, Russia and China are combining efforts to consistently implement the Plan to Promote the Key Elements of Russian-Chinese Economic Cooperation until 2030, which was approved during your visit to Moscow in March 2023.

It is noteworthy that all forms of cultural and humanitarian exchanges are also expanding. Mutual tourist flow is growing: last year, over 1.2 million trips were taken, and, in January – May of this year, the visa-free package tours alone were chosen by more than 260,000 people.

Russian-Chinese cooperation in global affairs serves as a main stabilising factor on the international stage, and we continue to further enhance it.

This year, Russia holds the presidency of BRICS, another organisation created on our initiative, and we hope that you and our colleagues will take part in the Kazan summit in October.

Thank you.

President of China Xi Jinping (retranslated): Mr President Putin, my dear friend,

I am very glad to see you.

It is true that holding meetings on the sidelines of multilateral events is not just a good tradition of ours, but also the symbol of the high level that Russian-Chinese relations enjoy.

In May, you had a successful state visit to China, and we were able to outline priority areas for further development of our relations in the year when our diplomatic relations mark their 75^th anniversary.

Today, the agreements we have reached are being efficiently implemented, and our comprehensive cooperation is progressing as planned. Facing an international situation fraught with turbulence and changes, the two countries should keep upholding the original aspiration of lasting friendship, and sticking to the determination of benefiting the people, enhance the unique value of Chinese-Russian relations, cultivate new drivers of cooperation, and make tireless efforts to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests and safeguard the basic norms governing international relations.

Tomorrow’s summit in Astana will become a crucial event for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation this year. I am ready to hold an in-depth discussion with you and our other colleagues on ways to strengthen the SCO and cooperation in various fields and help promote the sustainable development of the Organisation in order to build a closer community of common destiny of the SCO.

Thank you for your attention.

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