On September 9, 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a briefing for Chinese and foreign media on Premier Li Keqiang's official visit to Russia and holding of the 24th regular meeting between Chinese Premier and Russian Prime Minister. Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng briefed the media on relevant situation and answered questions from Chinese and foreign journalists.

Le Yucheng said, at the invitation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Premier Li Keqiang will pay an official visit to Russia from September 16 to 18 and co-chair the 24th regular meeting between Chinese Premier and Russian Prime Minister with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Premier Li Keqiang's visit comes as the two countries are embracing the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship and ushering in a new era in bilateral relations, and it is another important high-level exchange between the two sides following President Xi Jinping's visit to Russia in June this year.

Le Yucheng expressed, the China-Russia relationship has become more mature, stable and tenacious over the past 70 years since the establishment of diplomatic relationship, and it is now a major-country relationship featuring the highest degree of mutual trust, coordination and strategic value. The world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century. The international situation is evolving at a faster pace. Unilateralism and bullying are on the rise. Economic globalization has encountered headwinds and regional hotspot issues have cropped up frequently. Both China and Russia are faced with external disturbances and challenges, but in the face of the complex external environment, the bilateral relations have always maintained their resilience and determination and achieved sustained and high-level development. The two sides have enjoyed solid political mutual trust, and rendered each other firm support on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns. Mutually beneficial cooperation across the board has continued to expand and our interests are increasingly intertwined. The bilateral trade volume exceeded 100 billion US dollars for the first time last year. Since the beginning of this year, the bilateral trade has maintained a steady growth momentum, reaching 61.13 billion US dollars in the first seven months, up 4.7 percent year on year. Steady progress has been made in major strategic projects in energy, aviation and space, and connectivity, and we have witnessed rapid development in new emerging areas of cooperation covering agriculture, finance, scientific and technological innovation and cross-border e-commerce. Over the past two years, the China-Russia year of sub-national cooperation and exchange has achieved remarkable results, and the enthusiasm and level of sub-national exchange and cooperation continue to rise. The two countries have maintained close and effective communication and coordination in international affairs, and contributed positive energy to upholding the international system with the United Nations as its core and a fair and just international environment, and advocating multilateralism and an open world economy.

Le Yucheng said, as a mechanism and platform for coordinating and promoting all-round practical cooperation and people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries, the regular meeting between Chinese Premier and Russian Prime Minister will focus on two major objectives. The first is to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, deepen the integration of interests and consolidate the material basis of bilateral relations. The two sides will hold the year of scientific and technological innovation in the next two years, and the two heads of state have set the goal of bilateral trade reaching 200 billion US dollars by 2024. Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will fully review the progress in cooperation in various fields, and have in-depth communication on cooperation in key areas such as expanding economic and trade cooperation and improving the level of scientific and technological innovation to fully mobilize positive factors, and tap into new cooperation highlights and growth points. In this way, we will achieve the upgrading of China-Russia practical cooperation in the new era, and showcase the new outlook, new accomplishments and new achievements of China-Russia relations in the new era. The second is to demonstrate our strength in, contribute the two countries' wisdom to and make our voice heard in improving global governance, safeguarding multilateralism, supporting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation and building an open world economy through the positive achievements in bilateral cooperation, and firmly fight back unilateralism, protectionism and anti-globalization in the international community.

Le Yucheng said, during the visit, Premier Li Keqiang will hold small-scale and large-scale talks with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev within the framework of the regular meeting between Chinese Premier and Russian Prime Minister in St. Petersburg, sign and issue the joint communique of the 24th Regular Meeting between Chinese Premier and Russia Prime Minister, attend the signing ceremony, and meet the press together. In addition, Premier Li Keqiang will also meet with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Premier Li Keqiang's visit is rich in content and expected to yield fruitful results. It is believed that this regular meeting will surely achieve a great success, open up broader space for China-Russia practical cooperation in the new era, and push forward bilateral relations towards the goal and direction of mutual assistance, in-depth integration, pioneering innovation, and win-win outcomes for all.