Chinese leader Xi Jinping assured Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin of support for Russia's "key interests", AFP reported . Mishustin was in Beijing on an official visit.
The Russian prime minister has become the highest-ranking official to visit China since the start of the war in Ukraine. Xi Jinping said that China and Russia will provide each other "strong support in matters relating to the key interests of [the two countries], and strengthen cooperation on international platforms."
In addition, the parties agreed to "promote cooperation in various fields to a higher level" and "raise the level of economic, trade and investment cooperation."
Mishustin also met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who assured that relations between Russia and China "are at an unprecedented high level." He specified that these relations are characterized by "mutual respect for each other's interests", the desire to "jointly respond to challenges" in response to pressure in the international arena and "illegitimate sanctions of the collective West." Mishustin and Li Qiang signed a series of agreements on trade, sports and patents.
In April, China's ambassador to the EU Fu Cong called "rhetorical" a statement about "boundless friendship" between Moscow and Beijing made by Xi Jinping after his meeting with Putin. At the same time, he stressed that China does not support the war in Ukraine and does not recognize Crimea and other Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia as belonging to the Russian Federation.
At the same time, after the outbreak of the war, China became the main trading partner of Russia. China is also actively buying Russian oil.