"Russia and China are bound by friendly and partnership relations based on mutual respect and trust between two major powers. Despite the current global instability, our trade and economic ties are growing, contributing to the sustainable development of both countries' economies. Over the past eight years, trade turnover between the Russian Far East and China has grown almost 2.5-fold and will exceed 1.7 trillion rubles in 2025," Yuri Trutnev opened the meeting.
Speaking at the plenary session, Zhang Guoqing noted that, under the leadership of the two heads of state, the Chinese-Russian comprehensive strategic partnership is steadily developing at a high level in the new era: "Mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit increasingly characterize our relations, which have become a model of cooperation between large neighbors, bringing stability and certainty in a turbulent world. This year, we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of our strategic partnership and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation. In February, the two countries' leaders met via videoconference to outline a strategic plan for developing bilateral relations under the new circumstances. Today's meeting aims to implement the consensus reached by our heads of state, discuss future cooperation, and prepare for upcoming meetings of heads of state and government."
As Alexey Chekunkov, Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, noted: "Trade and economic ties between the Far East and China—the macro-region's key investment and foreign trade partner—continue to actively strengthen. This is facilitated by a shared border stretching over 4,000 kilometers and a well-established transport and logistics infrastructure."
Priority areas include deepening industrial cooperation, launching new investment projects using the mechanism of international advanced development territories, modernizing border infrastructure, implementing a joint project on Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island in Khabarovsk Region, and expanding technological cooperation using the capabilities of the Innovative Scientific and Technological Center established on Russky Island in Primorye.