China, Russia agree to expand investment, energy cooperation

China and Russia have pledged to deepen their investment and energy cooperation, further enhancing bilateral ties. This agreement emerged from a series of high-level meetings held recently.

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang visited Russia from Sunday to Tuesday. He attended the 11th meeting of the China-Russia Investment Cooperation Committee, the 21st meeting of the China-Russia Energy Cooperation Committee and the 6th China-Russia Energy Business Forum.

When co-chairing the meetings, Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, emphasized the strategic discussions and agreements made by the two heads of state, saying these discussions have drawn a new blueprint for the development of China-Russia relations and cooperation in various fields.

China is willing to work with Russia to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, continuously upgrade the level of investment and energy cooperation between the two countries, and better realize mutual benefit, win-win results and common development, Ding said.

He noted that under the strategic leadership of their respective heads of state, China-Russia investment and energy cooperation has seen significant progress, yielding tangible benefits for both nations. He called for the formulation of plans to guide bilateral investment, the steady advancement of major projects, and the creation of a favorable investment environment.

He also called for deepening integrated cooperation among upstream, midstream and downstream operations in the energy sector, enhancing cooperation in fields such as energy technology innovation, and strengthening strategic coordination on global energy governance, to jointly promote their high-quality cooperation.

The Russian side spoke highly of the development of Russia-China relations and the achievements in practical cooperation, congratulated the successful convening of the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and said that the key reform resolution adopted at the session will not only strongly promote China’s prosperity and development, but will also provide new opportunities for the development of Russia-China relations.

They expressed Russia’s willingness to join hands with China to fully implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, give full play to the platform and coordinating role of investment and energy cooperation mechanisms, expand the scope and depth of their cooperation, and contribute to the growth of the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era.

When attending the opening ceremony of the 6th China-Russia Energy Business Forum, Ding read a congratulatory letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping and delivered a speech.

Ding noted that back in May, the two heads of state held talks in Beijing and issued a joint statement on consolidating China-Russia strategic energy cooperation and achieving high-level development to ensure the economic and energy security of both countries.

Both sides should consolidate the good momentum of energy trade cooperation, jointly promote the construction of large-scale energy projects, pragmatically expand mutually beneficial cooperation in the energy industry chain, and build a closer energy cooperation partnership, Ding said.

Noting China is opening its door even wider to the world and will provide more development opportunities for the world through its high-quality development, Ding said Russian enterprises are welcome to actively participate in China’s modernization drive and achieve better development while sharing China’s opportunities.

Igor Sechin, executive secretary of the Russian Presidential Commission for the strategic development of the fuel and energy sector and environmental security, and chief of Russian oil company Rosneft, addressed the opening ceremony and read a congratulatory letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(With input from Xinhua)