State Councilor Wang Yong and Igor Komarov, Russia’s presidential envoy, co-chaired a dialogue between the chairmen of the Council of Cooperation between the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Volga Federal District via video link on Oct 14.

Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, China-Russia relations are moving forward with determination, and the mutual support and assistance between the two sides have added strategic connotations to Sino-Russian relations in the new era, Wang said.

He also said since the third meeting of the Yangtze-Volga Rivers local cooperation council in May 2019, cooperation between the two regions in the fields of economy, trade and others, is showing a growing momentum resulting in fruitful achievements.

The two sides should implement the important consensus of the two leaders on the positioning of China-Russia relations in the new era and local cooperation, and improve the cooperation mechanism. Further cooperation in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and the resumption of work and production should be promoted, with cooperation in industrial resources and other fields deepened, level of financing raised, and scientific, technological and cultural exchanges strengthened, in order to push the cooperation to a higher level, he added.

For his part, Komarov spoke highly of the major strategic achievements by China in fighting the epidemic and the progress in cooperation between the two regions.

He also said Russia would like to join China to promote practical cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, investment, cultural exchanges and the fight against the virus.

Leaders from Hunan and Sichuan provinces, Republic of Tatarstan and Orenburg region in western Russia, also attended the meeting, and exchanged opinions on strengthening local cooperation.