Russia’s top diplomat says cooperation with China tops country’s agenda

KUALA LUMPUR, August 5. /TASS/. A further development of Russian-Chinese relations is on the top of Russia’s foreign policy agenda, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday. "The development of the Russian-Chinese relations is Russia’s priority and, I hope, it meets the interests of the global peace and stability," Russia’s top diplomat said during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Kuala Lumpur. Lavrov arrived in Malaysia on Tuesday night to attend events of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur on August 5-6. Russia and China recently achieved a significant boost in their bilateral relations, primarily in the economic, energy, space and scientific as well as military spheres. One of the milestone deals between the countries was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China last May and it was an agreement on the Russian natural gas supplies to China. Russian energy giant Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a 30-year contract on Russian natural gas supplies to China via the eastern route worth a total of $400 billion. Over the past few years, the two countries have noticeably increased the intensity of their contacts. China has become Russia’s major trade partner while Russia is in the top ten of China’s main trade partners. In 2002-2013, bilateral trade hiked from $12 billion to $89.2 billion. Russia and China are planning to bring their bilateral trade turnover to $100 billion by 2015 and to $200 billion by 2020. Read more