A video conference of the heads of the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the people's congresses of the People’s Republic of China’s provinces took place.
Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev and Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC Ji Bingxuan held a video conference of heads of the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the people's congresses of the People’s Republic of China’s provinces.
Konstantin Kosachev highlighted the fact that the videoconference was taking place during the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. “This is a historic document which has remained fully relevant and underlies practical efforts to promote the entire range of Russian-Chinese cooperation,” he said.
According to him, building on this agreement, Russia and China have entered a new era of strategic interaction and comprehensive partnership that is characterised by an even greater mutual support across all areas, a fact which is reaffirmed, primarily, by the unrelenting intensity of Russian-Chinese meetings at the highest and high levels, even though they are held online. He noted that last June, the President of Russia and the President of the PRC held a conversation, via videoconference, which focused on the Big Treaty’s anniversary. Following the meeting, the leaders of the two countries adopted a Joint Statement and expressed their willingness to renew it for another five years. “As parliamentarians and representatives of the regions of our respective countries, we must act strictly in line with this treaty, address arising items on the bilateral agenda and replenish it with new meaningful ideas,” the Federation Council Deputy Speaker said.
According to Konstantin Kosachev, in the context of the pandemic of the novel coronavirus infection, Russia and China have promptly lent a helping hand to each other by sending humanitarian supplies and medical specialists and effectively coordinating efforts to evacuate people and to establish checkpoints on their border. “We continue to focus on deploying further efforts to strengthen cooperation in this area, especially being mindful of the need to restore the pace of border exchanges,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council went on to say that inter-parliamentary ties of high intensity and various formats play a significant role in promoting Russia-China relations. The Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, which was established in 2005, remains a defining element of interaction. It is becoming more effective every single year, which helps promote ties in legislation and mutual exchange of experience and bring solutions to practical matters.
Konstantin Kosachev noted that the agenda of the 6th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission, which was held via videoconference in November 2020, covered the most important aspects of Russia-China interaction. “The exchange of opinions gave an additional impetus to practical cooperation between our countries, regions, businesses, public organisations and ordinary citizens,” he said. “Today's event is also the result of the agreements reached during the meeting of the commission by the heads of our legislative bodies Valentina Matvienko and Li Zhanshu,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council pointed out that, as a chamber of Russian regions, the Federation Council attaches great importance to expanding region-to-region cooperation with China. “Almost 400 partner pairs at the level of the constituent entities of the Federation and municipalities are bound by cooperation agreements,” Konstantin Kosachev said. “It is now critically important to thoroughly analyse the course of implementation of the existing agreements. It is imperative to use joint efforts in order to add content to these documents and to steadfastly implement them. We will be able to make a weighty contribution to strengthening bilateral region-to-region ties as an important element of relations between our states.”
Ji Bingxuan highlighted the fact that the ongoing event was aimed at strengthening bilateral inter-parliamentary interaction and region-to-region ties. He noted that China and Russia were capable of developing a variety of mutually beneficial areas of this kind of cooperation.
According to Ji Bingxuan, China and Russia should act jointly in the face of the pandemic. “We must work together on joint projects and fill them with new content.”
The Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC of China expressed confidence that deepening region-to-region cooperation would always remain on the bilateral agenda.
The discussion was joined by Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin, Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Government and Northern Affairs Alexander Akimov, representatives of the legislative bodies of state power from the republics of Tatarstan and Sakha (Yakutia), the Amur, Penza and Ulyanovsk regions and the Primorye Territory. Leaders of the provincial peoples’ assemblies will be representing the Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Shandong and the city of Chongqing under the direct administration of the central government of the People’s Republic of China.