MOSCOW — Premier Li Keqiang's official visit to Russia will focus on key directions in future bilateral cooperation and broaden the space for practical cooperation between the two countries, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said on Sept 16 in a signed article.

The two sides will exchange ideas on fully implementing the important strategic consensuses reached by the two countries' heads of state, sign key documents on bilateral cooperation and inject strong vitality to the development of a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, Zhang said.

In accordance with the fundamental interests of China and Russia, the bilateral cooperation, which is strategic, steady and long-lasting, offers great momentum and solid basis for the development of their ties and benefit the two countries and peoples, Zhang said.

China and Russia continue to promote multi-dimensional cooperation in a mutually beneficial and practical way to achieve new fruits against the backdrop of rising protectionism, unilateralism and bullyism, and global economic uncertainties, Zhang said.

Zhang noted the breakthrough in bilateral trade as the first of all the fruitful results. In 2018, bilateral trade between China and Russia hit a record high of over $100 billion. Bilateral trade has maintained steady growth momentum since this year, reaching 61.13 billion dollars by the end of July, a 4.7-percent year-on-year increase.

Secondly, China and Russia have taken concrete steps to push for major cooperative projects. The Yamal liquefied natural gas project in Arctic Russia, in which China is a major participant, has seen smooth operation of its production lines.

The two sides have also signed agreements to promote cooperation in the nuclear sector and satellite navigation systems, and made steady progress in the joint development of a wide-body long-haul passenger jet.

Thirdly, cooperation in investment has made positive progress, Zhang wrote. Six Chinese banks have established branches in Russia, forming cooperative relations with their Russian counterparts. The two sides have also strengthened financial cooperation under the frameworks of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Silk Road Fund and others.

In addition, the two countries have been boosting their interconnectivity. The article cited examples including the construction of the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, and the launch of direct air routes connecting cities of the two countries.

Furthermore, local-level and border cooperation has deepened, as the two sides established "Yangtze River-Volga River" and "China's Northeast-Russia's Far East" regional cooperation mechanisms and set up relationships between 140 pairs of sister cities and provincial-level regions.

Zhang pointed out that the two big economies are complementary in industries and share broad cooperation prospects.

The two sides will constantly deepen the integration of interests and discover new growth points, so as to achieve an uplift in both quantity and quality of bilateral practical cooperation in a new era, Zhang said.