BEIJING — Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua co-chaired the 24th session of the committee for regular meetings between Chinese and Russian heads of government on Nov 24 via video link, together with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, pledging to promote mutually beneficial cooperation.

Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, the two nations have overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and cooperation in various fields has shown a good momentum of development, Hu said.

China stands ready to work together with Russia to earnestly implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, continue to strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation, and strive to stabilize and expand trade cooperation to achieve positive growth in bilateral trade volumes this year, Hu said.

China will also work with Russia to vigorously promote agricultural cooperation, deepen cooperation on strategic major projects, and scientific and technological innovation, and promote China-Russia cooperation to achieve new progress, he added.

For his part, Chernyshenko said Russia regards the development of Russia-China relations as a priority in its foreign policy. Since this year, Russia-China cooperation has withstood the test of the pandemic and achieved new development.

Russia is willing to further strengthen cooperation with China in trade, investment, agriculture, and other fields, foster more strategic major projects, and promote mutually beneficial cooperation to achieve more results, he said.

The two sides also agreed to further optimize the committee mechanism, strengthen coordination and implementation of cooperation on major issues, to inject new impetus into the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

After the meeting, Hu and Chernyshenko signed the minutes of the meeting.