Mr Ivanov,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

Promoting relations with the People’s Republic of China across the board is an absolute foreign policy priority for Russia. The conference Russia and China: Towards a New Quality of Bilateral Relations was organised by the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) in cooperation with the Russian-Chinese Committee of Friendship, Peace and Development. For us, this is a great opportunity to gain insight into the current state and prospects for expanding bilateral cooperation, and its impact on the global political and economic landscape.

Today, international relations have entered into a conceptually new historical stage that consists of the emergence of a multipolar world order and reflects the strengthening of new centres of economic development and power, cultural and civilizational diversity in the modern world and the natural aspiration of the people to determine their own future. These are non-linear processes that face many obstacles. The main one is the inability of some countries to recognise that the concept of a unipolar world order is untenable, and their attempts to preserve their dominant role in international affairs at any cost by imposing, including by force, their will, values and development models.

In this context, it is hard to underestimate the importance of the Russian-Chinese partnership that has grown into a strategic relationship in terms of ensuring global and regional security and stability, and creating a global governance architecture that fulfils the imperatives of our time. The relations between our two countries have never been as good as they are now. In fact, they can serve as a model of state-to-state cooperation in the 21^st century. This relationship is built on an imperative to not turn a blind eye to various issues where consensus has yet to be reached, but instead discussing them in a spirit of frankness, comradery and sincerity so as to reach mutually acceptable and beneficial agreements. We have been able to reach common ground on all issues of this kind. I believe this outcome to be quite logical, since our efforts are underpinned by equality, respect, trust and a commitment to take into account each other’s interests. This is all based on a mutual sympathy between the peoples of Russia and China.

I think we have things to be proud of. A solid contractual and legal framework is in place, covering almost all areas of bilateral cooperation. Its main principles and areas are set forth in the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation Between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China of July 16, 2001. We will be celebrating its 15^th anniversary this year. Issues related to the Russian-Chinese border have been settled completely.

A trust-based political dialogue mechanism is efficiently operating at multiple levels, including an annual exchange of visits by the heads of state, regular meetings of prime ministers, preceded by sessions of four intergovernmental commissions at the level of deputy prime ministers. The commission that prepares the annual meetings between prime ministers includes 19 sector-specific sub-commissions. There are also contacts between Russia’s Presidential Executive Office and the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, as well as regular inter-parliamentary exchanges, consultations on strategic security, cooperation in law enforcement, security and justice. Interregional ties are also increasing, as well as contact between political parties and NGOs. Joint military training exercises are held regularly on land and at sea.

China is a key trade and economic partner for Russia. We are currently working to deliver on the objective set by the heads of our two countries, which is to expand bilateral trade to $200 billion by 2020. This is a clear target. In the current environment some may say that this is too high, but I’m confident that this goal remains relevant for our agenda and can be achieved despite the temporary and subjective issues.

A crucial prerequisite for success is moving to a new model of economic cooperation based on forging closer ties in terms of value chains and investment. We look forward to enhancing cooperation between Russia’s and China’s banking institutions, as well as within recently created multilateral financial institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the BRICS New Development Bank and the Eurasian Development Bank.

Our energy cooperation in all areas, including nuclear energy, is playing a cementing role in the Russia-China partnership. We are consistently moving towards a strategic energy alliance aimed at promoting global energy security.

We attach great importance to the development of our cultural relations. We have launched the China-Russia Media Exchange Year, which offers opportunities for strengthening mutual understanding and partnership between the journalism communities and the people of Russia and China.

Our countries were allies during World War II. They bore the brunt of attacks and sustained the heaviest losses. Russian-Chinese relations will be further strengthened by our common resolve to firmly uphold the truth about those events and to fight any attempt to falsify history and exonerate Nazism and militarism. In acts of convincing evidence of our cooperation and solidarity, President of China Xi Jinping attended the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War in Moscow in May 2015, and President of Russia Vladimir Putin attended the celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the Chinese people’s victory in the War of Resistance against Japan.

Close foreign policy coordination is a major part of a Russian-Chinese strategic partnership. This coordination is not spearheaded against any other country. We are happy to say that our approaches to current global and regional issues mostly coincide and are very close in some cases.

Russia and China firmly stand for strengthening a collective foundation in global affairs based on international law, primarily the UN Charter. We consistently oppose diktat and blackmail, unilateral sanctions, double standards and attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign states.

We have cooperated effectively at the UN and in other international venues, including the G20, which will meet for a summit in Hangzhou in September 2016, as well as the SCO, BRICS and the Russia-India-China (RIC) group.

Our countries advocate stronger stability in Asia Pacific, where a reliable non-bloc system of equal and indivisible security must be created. The 2010 Russia-China initiative on security and cooperation in Asia Pacific is aimed at achieving this goal. Considering the principles formulated in this initiative, Russia, China and Brunei Darussalam have proposed creating a regional architecture that will meet today’s realities. This proposal was supported at the Eighth East Asia Summit (EAS) in October 2013. The EAS has held four rounds of consultations on this proposal. The fifth round will be held in Beijing, where we will continue to discuss initiatives aimed at creating a new security and cooperation architecture for Asia Pacific.

We have reached a basic agreement on finding ways to consolidate Eurasian integration in the EAEU format and China’s Silk Road Economic Belt project. The Joint Statement of Russia and China, adopted at the summit on May 8, 2015 in Moscow, documents a common vision of the modalities of this work at the bilateral and multilateral levels in order to ensure sustainable development in the region, with a common economic space determined as the key landmark of this process. At the same time, the Eurasian Economic Commission has started working on a trade and economic cooperation agreement between the EAEU and China, as well as a roadmap for priority integration projects in this format.

We view this work in the context of promoting President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to begin consultations between the EAEU, the SCO and ASEAN member states on the formation of a broad economic partnership based on equality and mutual consideration of interests. The recent ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit in Sochi has shown that the ASEAN countries appreciate and welcome this idea, which was proposed and discussed amid the processes, Mr Ivanov has just mentioned – I am referring to the US initiatives to create the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. These US-initiated partnerships are planned as a small circle of founding members who determine the rules of the process, while the rest can join if they wish, but will have to follow rules written without their help. We, on the other hand, are looking to create broader and more democratic economy-based partnerships involving the countries of the EAEU, the SCO and ASEAN, with no restrictions on joining the alliance. We expect that the open nature of our initiative will ensure efficiency and, most importantly, lead to the satisfaction of the interests of all participating countries.

Together with our Chinese friends, we will continue to take the necessary steps to elevate our cooperation to a new level for the benefit of the two peoples, in order to promote the principles of justice and equality on the international arena. We are convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China in June will give a powerful impetus to a multifaceted Russian-Chinese strategic partnership, will contribute to the further implementation of its unlimited potential.

In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude to the Russian Council on Foreign Affairs and its President Igor Ivanov for organising this forum, and in general, for the large and useful work the Council members have carried out to promote the Russia-China strategic partnership.