On the eve of his visit to China, Vladimir Putin gave an interview to the Chinese newspaper People’s Daily, presidential web page reports. As he noted in the interview, the relations of the two countries are “the best they have been in their entire history.”
Bilateral trade in 2018 exceeded a record $100 bln demonstrating consistent progress in investment, financial, energy and high-tech cooperation.
“Chinese tourists are clearly in the lead among foreign tourists coming to Russia. Over the past five years, their number has almost doubled. Last year alone, about 1,700,000 Chinese tourists visited our country,” the President said.
Speaking of the regional developments, he pointed out, “Russia has its own vision for the future of regional integration. Together with other member states of the Eurasian Economic Union we are consistently searching for the optimal model of cooperation. I am referring to the plans to form the Greater Eurasian Partnership or, in other words, a broad network of regional integration associations developing in a coordinated way, based on the principles of equality, openness, mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests.”