Russian PM to visit China in second half of 2017 - foreign ministry

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev plans to visit China in the second half of 2017 to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. "In the second half of the year, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is scheduled to make an official visit to China during which the 22nd meeting of the two countries’ prime ministers will take place," the statement reads. Before the meeting between the Russian and Chinese prime ministers, "meetings of four ‘big’ intergovernmental commissions on energy, investment and humanitarian cooperation, involving deputy prime ministers, will be held, as well as meetings of dozens of their sub-commissions and working groups on the preparations for the prime ministers’ regular meetings," the Russian Foreign Ministry added. "The next round of bilateral consultations on strategic security and cooperation in the sphere of security, legal order and justice is also expected," the ministry said. The schedule of meetings between the heads of state and other high-level contacts will be discussed at a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi which is going to take place during the Chinese top diplomat’s official visit to Moscow due on May 25-26. "During the May 26 talks, the ministers will focus on bilateral cooperation on the international stage which is one of the most important aspects of the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership," the statement adds. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov and Wang Yi "will also exchange views on a wide range of pressing global and regional issues, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula, in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in Afghanistan." "Our countries’ positions on most global issues are similar or even coincide, so Russia and China intend to continue coordinating their foreign policy activities," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed. Read more