China is willing to deepen pragmatic cooperation with Russia in various fields and safeguard common interests, Premier Li Keqiang said while meeting with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, on July 15.

Premier Li noted that this year marked the 15th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. China is willing to join efforts with Russia to consolidate political mutual trust, maintain close communication and coordination in international and regional affairs, carry out cooperation under the frameworks of the ASEM and the SCO to safeguard common interests and promote the peace and development of both countries, the Eurasian continent and the world as a whole, according to the Premier.

He pointed out that the trade cooperation between China and Russia was highly complementary and has broad prospects, with important progress having been made in cooperation on major strategic projects.

He called on both sides to increase bilateral investment, improve trade structures and financial services with firm confidence. He also urged both sides to, in the principle of sharing risks and mutual benefit, consolidate and expand cooperation in traditional energies, build a stable and integrated energy cooperation model and effectively expand the bilateral trade scale.

The Premier also called for a discussion on production capacity and tripartite cooperation to achieve higher-level mutual benefit and win-win results.

Medvedev said Russia and China enjoyed unprecedented political mutual trust and frequent high-level exchanges. Both countries had deepened their close communications on economic and cultural cooperation, which had fully reflected the high-level of their comprehensive strategic partnership, he said.

He is optimistic about the prospects of bilateral trade cooperation, saying that China is the largest trade partner of Russia. He said that Russia was willing to dovetail the Eurasian Economic Union with China’s Belt and Road initiative, strengthen cooperation on pipeline projects, carry out cooperation on the third-party nuclear energy market and make new progress in Sino-Russian cooperation.

Premier Li introduced China’s principle and stance on the South China Sea arbitration case unilaterally initiated by the Philippines.

Medvedev said Russia respected China’s stance, supported friendly consultations and negotiations by parties directly concerned to resolve the issue, and opposed internationalization of the South China Sea disputes or any interference from forces outside the region.

Both sides agreed to hold the 21st Regular Prime Ministers’ Meetings of China and Russia in the second half of the year.