Xi, Putin envision strengthened energy cooperation

President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to bring China-Russia energy cooperation to a new level as he and Russian President Vladimir Putin sent congratulatory messages to the first Chinese-Russian Energy Business Forum in Beijing on Thursday.

Xi said in his letter that energy collaboration between China and Russia has seen fruitful outcomes in recent years, which has played a positive role in the social and economic development of both nations.

Saying that the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has been operating at a high level, Xi said China stands ready to work with Russia to bring bilateral energy cooperation to a new height.

Xi said that the hosting of the Chinese-Russian Energy Business Forum is an important consensus he reached with President Putin. The forum aims to establish a platform for direct dialogues between enterprises from both countries, extensively explore opportunities for cooperation and seek precise correlations to better meet the needs of cooperation.

He said he hopes those attending the forum will have extensive discussions, build consensuses and consolidate existing cooperation before exploring new opportunities so as to better benefit the people of the two countries.

Putin said in his letter that energy cooperation has been an important component of Russia-China relations, which have seen considerable development in recent years.

He said topics for discussion at the forum include cooperation in areas such as oil and gas, coal, electricity, investment, science and research and environmental protection, which fully indicate the broad common interests of energy businesses of the two nations.

He added that forum participants will conduct detailed and constructive dialogues and explore new models of bilateral win-win cooperation.

Speaking at the forum on Thursday, Vice-Premier Han Zheng said that as major countries with significant global influence, China and Russia undertake the task to jointly safeguard the security of global energy and promote its sustainable development.

Han said companies from the two countries should play a leading role in supporting the dynamics of the development of bilateral energy cooperation.

He added that the two countries should also stick to an innovation-driven approach and increase input in innovation.