Russia-China relations have reached an unprecedentedly high level

Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko held talks with Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China.

 “Russia-China relations have reached an unprecedentedly high level and will serve as an example for other countries,” said Valentina Matvienko. She noted that Russia and China have demonstrated a departure from confrontation and advocate the promotion of regional and global security and economic cooperation. “Such cooperation with China is Russia’s indisputable foreign policy course,” Ms Matvienko said.

 “One of our priorities is to carry out the agreements reached by the Russian and Chinese leaders. We must pool our efforts at international parliamentary venues as well,” she said.

Ms Matvienko emphasised that inter-parliamentary ties that stand out for the diversity of their formats are a major component of Russian-Chinese cooperation. In this context she suggested exchanging law-making experience and learning about the bills put forth by the MPs of both countries on ensuring national security, state sovereignty and civil rights and freedoms.

Ms Matvienko said the Chinese people have succeeded in the socioeconomic development of their country in the last few decades. She said she was pleased to know that in addition to Moscow, Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, will visit the Republic of Tatarstan where he will have an opportunity to learn about the region’s socioeconomic achievements.

Li Zhanshu noted that the Federation Council pays much attention to the development of Russian-Chinese relations. He fully shared Ms Matvienko’s opinion on the bilateral cooperation.

The head of the Chinese delegation expressed firm confidence that inter-parliamentary cooperation would continue to deepen and expand on international and other venues.

Developing the dialogue, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Andrei Klishas and Chair of the Committee of the National People’s Congress of China on Constitutional and Legal Issues Li Fei told the audience about the laws drafted and adopted to protect the interests of the state.

The conversation was attended by Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council and member of the group on the Federation Council's cooperation with the Chinese National People's Congress Ilyas Umakhanov, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Andrei Klishas, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev and Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Government and Northern Affairs Oleg Melnichenko, First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Sergei Kalashnikov, member of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture Grigory Karasin, member of the Federation Council Committee on Defence and Security and member of the group on Federation Council cooperation with the Chinese National People's Congress Bair Zhamsuyev, Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Alexei Russkikh and Secretary General of the Federation Council Gennady Golov.

Valentina Matvienko and Li Zhanshu visited the photo exhibit in the lobby of the Federation Council building. It is entitled “Parliamentary Dimension” and is devoted to the 70^th anniversary of Russian-Chinese diplomatic relations.

The exhibit displays photos of state figures from both countries, who made substantial contributions to the establishment and consolidation of bilateral relations and describes the annual contact between Russian and Chinese MPs.