China, Russia to expand bilateral economic, trade cooperation

MOSCOW, Aug. 21 -- China and Russia will work together to expand bilateral economic and trade cooperation, said a joint communique issued Wednesday following the 29th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian heads of government.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang co-chaired the meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

The document said the two sides agreed that joint efforts will be made to optimize trade structure, create new growth points for the two countries' economies and bilateral trade volume, and promote the development of e-commerce.

Both sides support the holding of the ninth China-Russia Expo in Russia in 2025 and the 5th China-Russia Forum on Interregional Cooperation within the framework of the Expo, said the joint communique.

The communique pointed out that efforts will be made to expand mutually beneficial cooperation in the Arctic, strengthen cooperation in shipping development, navigation safety, polar ship technology and construction. Both countries will encourage their enterprises to actively engage in Arctic shipping routes cooperation based on market principles, and pay special attention to the protection of the Arctic ecosystem.

The two sides will work actively to expand bilateral trade in the agricultural sector, expand the mutual access categories of agricultural products between the two countries, and promote the export of Russian processed meat products to China at an early date, said the document.

They also agreed that support will be given to the BRICS countries in their cooperation on capacity building, joint research and global governance in the field of artificial intelligence.