China, Russia vow to deepen pragmatic military cooperation, safeguard stability

China is willing to work with Russia to further deepen pragmatic cooperation between the two militaries and safeguard global and regional prosperity and stability, said General Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, while meeting on Wednesday in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zhang said the friendship between China and Russia has developed continuously and strengthened with time. He added that this year, the two countries' heads of state had two successful meetings and reached a series of important consensuses, charting a new blueprint for China-Russia relations, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

The sound relationship between the two militaries serves as an important symbol of the high level and particularity of China-Russia relations, Zhang said, noting that in recent years, the development of China-Russia military ties has maintained strong momentum, with diversified highlights of cooperation in various fields.

Zhang said that China is willing to work together with Russia to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, further deepen pragmatic military cooperation, and jointly safeguard the interests of both countries as well as global and regional prosperity and stability.

Putin said that the friendly relations between Russia and China are conducive to maintaining global and regional peace and stability. He emphasized that the relations are completely different from the kinds of alliance seen during the Cold War.

The Russian president said that in recent years, the economic and trade relationship between the two countries has developed rapidly, and the two countries have maintained close coordination on international multilateral platforms such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS.

He said that cooperation between the two militaries in various fields has developed with a sound momentum and achieved fruitful results, playing an important role in safeguarding the strategic security of the two countries.

Putin emphasized that Russia is willing to strengthen strategic communication with China, upgrade the level of practical cooperation and continuously push forward the in-depth development of bilateral relations between the two countries and two militaries.

On Wednesday morning, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held a welcoming ceremony for Zhang and had official talks with him.

This year, President Xi Jinping has had two meetings with President Putin — one during Xi's state visit to Moscow in March, and the other in Beijing in October, when Putin was attending the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

During his three-day state visit to Russia, Xi said that consolidating and developing long-term good-neighborly and friendly relations with Russia is China's strategic choice and conforms to the prevailing trend of the times.

Regarding military cooperation, China and Russia plan to regularly organize joint maritime and air patrols, exercises and training, strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the two militaries, including those under existing bilateral mechanisms, and further deepen military mutual trust, according to the joint statement signed by the two presidents during Xi's state visit in March.

Zhang and Shoigu have met with each other twice this year, with their first meeting taking place in late October, when the Russian defense minister was attending the 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, a global security conference.

At that time, Zhang told Shoigu that China is willing to work with Russia to handle various kinds of security threats and challenges, and safeguard the world's strategic balance and stability, according to China's Defense Ministry.