Beijing, 4 February 2022 (TDI): Russian President, Vladimir Putin, met Chinese President, Xi Jinping in Beijing. The meeting took place on the eve of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 4, 2022.
During the talk, the President of China, Xi Jinping, said that it is a very good sign to meet the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, on the occasion of the spring festival along with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. Thus, this meeting will add more energy to both states’ bilateral cooperation.
In return, President Vladimir Putin thanked him for inviting him to Beijing at this precious ceremony of the Winter Olympics. He then remarked that attending the ceremony is now a tradition.
It is pertinent to note that President Vladimir Putin has also attended the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in China. And, President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Games held in Sochi.
Subsequently, the Russian President said that he is confident that athletes of both countries will perform well in the Olympics. Thereafter, President Xi Jinping reiterated, the world is facing a pandemic situation.
But, the collaboration between both countries has grown stronger than ever. Perhaps, this is vital for the political and strategic trust of any state. In the same vein, mutual trade between both countries has exceeded US $140 billion.
President Vladimir Putin then stated that his country is aiming to reach a mark of US$200 billion in mutual trade. And, he is confident that both countries will achieve this goal. At the meeting, President Vladimir emphasized the traditional areas of trade such as oil and gas.
In this context, Russian oil workers have suggested hydrocarbon delivery to China. However, President Vladimir Putin also highlighted the gas sector where a contract has been signed to deliver ten billion cubic meters of gas to China. And, of course, the high-tech sector is also growing day by day.
In brief, Xi Jinping assured Vladimir Putin of further development and practical cooperation of Chinese-Russian relations. Indeed, this is vital not only for the mutual trust between countries but for the benefit of people as well.
Russia and China’s Bilateral Cooperation at Beijing Olympics 2022
In particular, the agenda of the meeting was based on intergovernmental agreements such as anti-monopoly legislation, interoperability of GLONASS, and BeiDou navigation satellite systems.
Besides, the talks focused on the development of high-quality trade in services and goods along with a plan of meeting between foreign ministers of both countries in 2022. Furthermore, both sides signed an MoU between the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Russian Economic Development Ministry.
The purpose of the MoU is to promote cooperation in sustainable development. Meanwhile, the concerned ministries have also produced a joint statement on holding Chinese and Russian years (2022-23) of cooperation in Sports and Physical education.
Accordingly, both sides also signed commercial contracts. These contracts included the purchase and sale of natural gas through the Far Eastern Route. In addition to that, it included the purchase and sale of crude oil for the oil refineries in Western China.
In the same vein, the signed documents included MoU on cooperation in the field of low carbon development between Rosneft and CNPC. Both sides also agreed on cooperation in the field of information development and digitalization. This agreement is held between Huawei Technologies and Rosneft for five years i.e., 2027.
