Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Dmitry Medvedev: Mr President, welcome to Moscow! I’d like to congratulate you once again on your election to the post of President of the People’s Republic of China and wish you success in this very responsible job. I hope your first visit to the Russian Federation will be very productive and will be crowned with impressive results. In fact, this is already happening. Please accept special thanks for making Russia the destination of your first foreign visit as President.

This is our fourth meeting. We first met in May 2008, when I went to China on a state visit. Much time has passed since then.  Our relations are developing along the path of strategic partnership and cooperation and we have already achieved impressive results. Yesterday you held talks with President Vladimir Putin and our other colleagues. Over 30 documents were signed during these talks. This is a significant contribution to the development of our relations and we are very happy about this.

Xi Jinping (as translated): Mr Prime Minister, I’m also very pleased to meet with you again. We have met before more than once, so we have been old friends for a long time. Thank you for your warm wishes to me. 

When I first came to your country three years ago, we met in the same building and I was highly impressed by the image of dynamic and modern Russia. Having arrived here this time, I have noticed new positive changes. We are happy about this success and progress in your country.

You told me that at that time, just two weeks after you became President of Russia, you paid your first foreign visit in that capacity to China. You explained that by doing so you wanted to demonstrate to everyone the special nature and importance of Chinese-Russian relations. My first foreign visit as President is to Russia. I also want to show the special character and importance of our relations. Many things are changing in the world over time but our bilateral relations are becoming stronger and more diverse every year.

Currently we are seeing some dynamic and very complex changes in the world. Looking back today at the road we have traversed in developing our relations, we have every reason to say that the decisions we made and the steps we took along this road have proved to be correct. They have created a solid foundation for the further development of our relations.

As you know, during my meeting with President Putin yesterday, we had a thorough exchange of opinion on bilateral issues, as well as on urgent international and regional topics of mutual interest. Our meeting has resulted in numerous agreements. We have also made substantial progress in developing our cooperation on a practical plane. We have achieved impressive results. Speaking for myself, I can say that my visit has already reached its goals. I can even say that the results have far exceeded my expectations. I’m very pleased with the results of my visit to your country.

Dmitry Medvedev: We are very happy about this.

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