Transcript:

Dmitry Medvedev: Mr Wen Jiabao, ladies and gentlemen. I’d like to say a few words on the results of the 17th meeting of the Russian and Chinese prime ministers. My talks with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and other Chinese partners have confirmed the strategic nature of our relations and our shared aspiration to develop relations in all spheres. You have just seen for yourselves how many documents have been signed in this hall. This is a clear reflection of the level of our relations.

China is our next door neighbour and leading trade partner in the Asia-Pacific Region. We do appreciate this partnership. Despite the problems in the global economy in 2011, bilateral trade reached a record $83.5 billion. We can now raise it to the target of $100 billion in the next few years and to $200 billion by 2020. This is an ambitious but achievable goal.

However, the issue is not the quantity of trade, though that is important and makes us feel leading partners. We must upgrade the quality of economic cooperation. Right now, trade takes precedence over everything else, and we have spoken about this today. But this is not fully in keeping with modern trends of economic development. It is vital to boost the share of investment cooperation. It is important to develop high-tech cooperation. Today we have signed agreements on nuclear power engineering, civil aircraft building, space exploration and information technology.

We have discussed our energy cooperation in all spheres – gas, oil, nuclear power and coal – because this is extremely important, and we’ve set courses for the future. We believe our prospects are very good. I’m confident we will sign agreements on all these spheres in the near future. They are laying the foundation of Russian-Chinese partnership for decades to come.

We are also developing our cross-border and regional ties. Today more than 60 regions in Russia have direct contacts with Chinese provinces. Strengthening these contacts is also a priority. It will contribute to the implementation of the programme of cooperation between the regions of the Far East, Eastern Siberia, and China’s north-east. This programme was adopted in September 2009.

At the meeting we discussed the results of the Year of Russian Tourism in China, which has concluded; and we discussed holding a Year of Chinese Tourism in Russia. We adopted a comprehensive plan of action on developing Russian-Chinese cultural cooperation. It is important to build up direct contacts between our universities, especially those specialising in teaching our languages, Russian and the Chinese. We will foster such contacts, internships and student exchange programmes. Our languages are very important for communication. In fact, the Chinese language has currently become one of the most popular foreign languages to learn in Russia; and China has shown a persistent interest in the Russian language. 

In conclusion, I’d like to sincerely thank Mr Wen Jiabao for his great personal contribution to the development of Russian-Chinese relations, our strategic partnership, for his unchanging ability and aspiration to work jointly with Russian colleagues, deal with the details of our relations and understand very delicate nuances of our interaction. This has always helped to arrive at decisions in the most complicated and promising areas of our cooperation in the past decade – in the decade when our cooperation has drastically changed.   

Mr Wen Jiabao, I wish you new achievements, good health and all the best.

I thank all my Russian and Chinese colleagues.

Wen Jiabao (via interpreter): Friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon! Prime Minister Medvedev and I just held the 17^th regular meeting between the prime ministers of China and Russia, and after lunch I will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. I want to sincerely thank my Russian colleagues for the warm reception.  

Today, here on Russian soil, I’m making my last foreign visit at the end of my political career. I think it has a great symbolic importance, and personally I appreciate this opportunity. This is the tenth and last time I will participate in the regular meeting of the Chinese and Russian prime ministers, so today’s meeting has a great associative significance. At the talks, we summarised the results of cooperation between our countries in the last decade in eight major areas: trade and investment, energy, space, aviation, interregional cooperation, finances, high technology, cultural cooperation as well as in our interaction in international and regional affairs. We greatly value the role of these regular meetings between the prime ministers of China and Russia.

Currently, a very complex process is underway in the international and regional situation. The global financial crisis is far from over; the risks of a global economic slowdown are growing. Challenged by this complex global situation, China and Russia should interact more closely in countering these challenges, accelerate our own development, and step up our interaction in the world arena in order to defend our own and common interests.

The Chinese side is ready to work together with our Russian colleagues, and make joint efforts in order to meet our targets ahead of schedule – to bring the trade between our countries up to $100 billion by 2015. In addition, we plan to advance our cooperation in the energy sector. We will focus on the following areas of cooperation: investment, value-added processing, science and high technology, as well as innovations. We intend to create an even greater number of large strategic joint projects through joint design and development and joint production in the sphere of space exploration and aviation. We intend to harness the potential of our region in our cooperation and also use market mechanisms.   

In addition, the governments of our two countries plan to extend even greater political and administrative support to our companies and enterprises. The sides intend to continue to expand cultural cooperation and hold a successful Year of Chinese Tourism.

We are going to  to  participate more actively in management of the global economy and push for reforms in the international economic and financial systems.

Ladies and gentlemen, in all these years the Chinese and Russian leaders have maintained close and very serious contacts, built on mutual trust. In these years we have built up a high degree of mutual political confidence and strong friendship, which is a powerful catalyst for the development of Chinese-Russian relations. In our cooperation we always proceed from a spirit of mutual respect, consideration of the interests of the other side, and mutual benefit. And the people of our countries, including Chinese and Russian media, have shown great interest in cooperation between our countries. I think this is the source of our strength and confidence. I’m sure that we will continue to advance arm in arm.

The new Chinese leaders will continue to view our relations from the strategic and global perspective. We will maintain continuity in a number of important mechanisms in our relations, including the regular meetings between our prime ministers. We intend, jointly with our Russian comrades, to ensure an even brighter future for Chinese-Russian relations. Thank you.