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China-Russia relations
ChinaDiplomacy

‘Very high level’: Putin plays up Russia’s economic ties with China

  • In talks with Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing, Putin says growing trade is based on the political relationship between the two countries
  • Russian leader says overall relations are at an ‘absolutely unprecedented historical level’

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Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) holds talks with Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Tuesday. Photo: Kremlin/dpa
Liu Zhen
Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country’s economic ties with China are at a “very high level” thanks in large part to the two nations’ political relationship.
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Putin delivered the assessment in talks on Tuesday with Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Guoqing, who is attending the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok.

“The relationship between Russia and China in this area – the area of economic cooperation – has reached a very high level … and the results are not only good but excellent,” a statement from the Kremlin quoted Putin as saying to Zhang.

“[This is] all a derivative of what has been achieved in the political field,” the Russian leader said, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow in March – his first abroad in his third term as president – was “a sign that relations between Russia and China have reached an absolutely unprecedented historical level”.

Despite economic pressure from the West, China has continued to deepen its “no-limits partnership” with Russia, including in trade.

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Last year, trade between the two countries rose 34.3 per cent year on year to a high of 1.28 trillion yuan (US$190 billion).

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