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Mr Putin is in China on an official visit at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang (retranslated): Mr President, it is a great pleasure to see you again.

This year, we are marking the 15^th anniversary of the Agreement on Friendship, Good-Neighbourliness and Cooperation, and also the 20^th anniversary of our decision to establish relations of strategic partnership and comprehensive cooperation. Therefore, your visit to China has particular significance.

You recently gave an interview to the Chinese media in which you shared your views on how to develop relations between our two countries.

China will work together with Russia to take our relations to a qualitatively new level.

I would like to exchange views with you on current matters concerning our bilateral relations.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang,

You have just given a brief description of our relations. Of course, it is practically impossible to speak about all the different aspects of our relations in a single interview.

Our relationship really is one of comprehensive strategic partnership. Our ties are developing in many different areas and continue to make successful progress, opening up good prospects for the future. The work that we have already accomplished, especially in the economy, thanks to the efforts of our governments, yours and the Russian Prime Minister’s ensure and support this development.

The economy is at the foundation of our countries’ ties and we are doing much indeed to strengthen this foundation. However, we must use this as a base upon which to develop our partnership in other areas too, on the international arena, and in culture and education. In one way or another however, the economy is at the base of everything.

We therefore value greatly the attention you and your colleagues give to these matters. We know that work in different areas is not always easy and a lot of effort must go into developing specific projects, reaching all the necessary approvals and striking a balance of interests. However, we always build our relations on a consideration of each other’s interests, and we are successful in this. Therefore, I would like to thank you very much for this work.

Thank you.

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