UPDATE - Russian premier on business trip to China

UPDATES WITH STATEMENTS BY RUSSIAN PREMIER, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY

By Elena Teslova and Riyaz ul Khaliq

MOSCOW/ISTANBUL (AA) - As part of high-level exchanges between the two nations, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin began his two-day business trip to China on Tuesday.

Mishustin said the two sides can “cooperate on shipbuilding, the production of civilian drones, and the timber industry,” expecting that the trade volume between Russia and China will reach $200 billion this year.

Speaking at the Russian-Chinese business forum in Shanghai, Mishustin praised the relations between the two countries as "distinguished by a special character."

"Our peoples are bound by ties of good neighborliness, mutual assistance, support, and friendship," he stressed.

Mishustin said he arrived with a large delegation of top Russian officials and heads of Russia's biggest companies, adding that all of them are "open to the development of contacts."

The prime minister said he expects that the Russian-Chinese cooperation will strengthen the economies of both countries, which is especially important under the conditions of wide sanctions.

Despite restrictive measures, some sectors of the Russian economy expanded, he said, citing as an example agriculture, where grain harvest reached a new high in 2022.

Mishustin said Russia's foreign trade turnover has been increasing, including with China, and that this growth is accompanied by "transformations in quality" -- a decrease of the dependence on dollar and other Western currencies.

He named engineering, energy, shipbuilding, and drone production as priority sectors in cooperation with China.

"Our country ranks first in terms of oil supplies to China. The volume of exports of natural and liquefied gas, and coal is also steadily growing. Another strategic area of common interests is nuclear energy," he said.

Russia is also interested in the development of a transport corridor via Kazakhstan and Mongolia to China, he added.

The invitation to the Russian premier was extended by his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Mao Ning, the ministry spokesperson, told reporters In Beijing that "China has been conducting normal trade cooperation with Russia."

"China opposes unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction. China-Russia cooperation neither targets nor is it coerced by any third party," said Mao, according to the Chinese daily Global Times.

China and Russia have recently undertaken high-level visits, with President Xi Jinping paying a state visit to Moscow in March followed by the Chinese defense minister’s trip.

During his meeting with Xi in Moscow, Mishustin said the bilateral trade between Russia and China last year had approached $190 billion.“I am convinced that already this year, we will fulfill the task set by you (Xi Jinping) and Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, to bring the (bilateral) trade to $200 billion,” Mishustin told Xi in Moscow.