China, Russia key forces of stability in turbulent world: Chinese FM

MOSCOW -- The China-Russia relations have become key forces of stability in a turbulent world, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Friday.

Wang made the remarks at a joint press conference following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has shown strong resilience against the backdrop that the COVID-19 epidemic has accelerated the world's profound changes unseen in a century, Wang said.

Heads of state of the two countries have maintained strategic communication. This year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have had four phone conversations and exchanged letters multiple times, leading China-Russia relations from a strategic height to ride waves and move forward, Wang noted.

At the beginning of this month, the two leaders exchanged congratulatory messages on the 75th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Facist War, demonstrating their firm resolution to safeguard the outcomes of the Second World War as well as international fairness and justice, sais Wang.

The two countries have cooperated with each other in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in an effective and timely manner, he said, noting that Russia was the first country to send medical experts to China, and China has continuously provided Russia with support of anti-epidemic materials.

Wang said the two countries have also forged an impregnable fortress against the "political virus" that poses even greater threat than the COVID-19 epidemic.

International flights and cross-border cargo between the two countries remain unclogged even at the height of the epidemic, Wang said. The resumption rate of cooperation projects between the two sides has reached about 90 percent and the two sides are discussing measures to facilitate flows of personnels and freight, he added.

Noting that bilateral cooperation has continued to yield positive results, Wang said over 1,000 projects will be held under the framework of China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation.

The two-way trade volume in the first eight months of this year stood roughly at the same level with last year, and the "China-Russia duo" of inter-connectivity has taken shape, which will further boost confidence in the prospect of China-Russia practical cooperation, he added.