In an Interfax interview, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi describes his country’s relationship with Russia in the following way:
“A peaceful idea: ‘Always friends and never foes’ was established in our relationship. We achieved important results in various areas of cooperation, and this brought many advantages. The successful Year of Russia in China Year of China in Russia to a large extent strengthened mutual understating and friendship between our peoples and contributed to the development of practical cooperation,” Yang said.
Sino-Russian trade and economic relations have been developing dynamically as well, the minister said. “According to statistical data by the Chinese customs agency, [bilateral] trade reached $48.17 billion in 2007, showing a 44.3% increase compared to the previous year. This was a record figure since 1993. Remarkably, increasing volumes of trade are accompanied by improving trade structures,” the Chinese foreign minister said, adding that investments in Sino-Chinese relations amounted to $2 billion.
On the topic of how China has handled recent protest in and around Tibet, the Kremlin has voiced their support for Beijing.
