China and Russia should continue to conserve the unique value of their bilateral ties and tap into the internal driving forces of bilateral cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping said while meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the Kazakh capital Astana on Wednesday.
Xi is in Kazakhstan for a state visit and to attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
In his meeting with Putin, Xi recalled the Russian president's two-day state visit to China back in May, during which the two sides charted the course forward for the China-Russia ties.
"On the important historical juncture of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, we jointly made important plans and arrangements for the development of bilateral relations. Currently, both sides are fully implementing the consensus we have reached, and are promoting the steady growth of bilateral cooperation in various areas along the predetermined track," Xi said.
"In the face of the international situation and external environment fraught with turbulence and changes, both sides should continue to adhere to the original aspiration of our lasting friendship and the unwavering resolve to benefit our two peoples, constantly conserve the unique value of China-Russian relations and tap into the internal driving forces of bilateral cooperation, while making efforts to safeguard the legitimate interests of the two countries and uphold the basic norms governing international relations," he said.
Xi stressed that the SCO summit in Astana, which will be held on Thursday, is the most important agenda of the SCO this year, and said he anticipates further productive talks with Putin and leaders of other SCO member states during the summit.
"I look forward to having in-depth discussions with Mr. President and the other heads of state on the development of the SCO and cooperation in various fields, so as to promote the steady and sustained progress of the organization, and build a closer SCO community with a shared future," Xi said.
Founded in Shanghai back in 2001, the SCO is a trans-regional organization comprised of nine full members, three observer countries, and 14 dialogue partners, which covers over 60 percent of the Eurasian landmass and nearly half of the world's population.
Xi calls for conserving unique value of China-Russian relations
Nearly 100 attendees discussed topics such as addressing global development uncertainties and reconstructing industrial and supply chains at the Eighth Global Think Tank Summit, which ran from Thursday to Friday in Beijing.
Dialogue and communication become even more crucial amid heightened risks and uncertainties, which can facilitate collaboration among all parties to fight global challenges, said Bi Jingquan, chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE).
Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero praised China's role in maintaining global stability and peace, emphasizing the need to advocate for multilateralism and establish a more optimized, sustainable, and fair international order in the face of challenges like war conflicts and the resurgence of protectionism.
"I believe in history, and countries that have made progress reached development or achieved long-term development have all upheld an open attitude towards the world. I think the communication between different people needs mutual learning and mutual understanding, and the same goes for exchanges between different countries. We need to keep learning about each other's culture, language, history, traditions and customs to enhance mutual understanding, so as to achieve common development," he said.
Climate change emerged as a top agenda item during one of the round table discussions, with experts highlighting the importance of practicing global climate governance and promoting international cooperation to drive low-carbon development.
"China and the United States, the two largest global economies, two very important and influential countries on the world stage. The climate crisis is a crisis that requires global cooperation. And so the world's two largest economies really need to model that kind of cooperation, if we hope to see a cooperation from other countries around the world," said Mark Brownstein, senior vice president of Energy Transition at Environmental Defense Fund.
Jon Creyts, CEO of the Rocky Mountain Institute, praised China for its leadership in providing solutions to combat climate change.
"China is a leader right now in helping provide the solutions to the world that are going to be so critical to solve climate change. Things like Solar power, things like wind, things like battery storage. China has jumped to an early leadership position and is helping to set the market for how competition needs to happen globally, which is exciting, and there are many more innovations that are being unlocked," said Creyts.
The summit also saw the release of a blue paper titled "Evaluation Report on the Hygiene and Health Development of China (2023)", which summarized the CCIEE's long-term research on China's health sector.
Experts emphasized that as the world undergoes unprecedented changes, with the rise of unilateralism and protectionism in many regions, it is crucial to gather wisdom from all sides while discussing solutions to cope with these uncertainties.
The two-day summit, themed "Working together for a better world amidst multiple uncertainties", was hosted by the CCIEE.
Global think tank summit focuses on collaborative solutions to development challenges
