In March, the Chinese head of state's diplomacy opened a new chapter. At the invitation of President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Russia from March 20 to 22, 2023. This is Xi Jinping's first overseas visit since he was re-elected as the president of the country, and it is also the opening chapter of the new Chinese government's diplomacy.

My upcoming visit to Russia is a journey of friendship, cooperation and peace. Before his departure, Xi Jinping said so in a signed article published by Russian media. Observers here believe that this visit will inject strong impetus into the development of Sino-Russian relations in the new era and inject more stability into the world.

This is a journey of friendship.

This visit is Xi Jinping's second visit to Russia after a lapse of more than three years. It is also the first stop of Xi Jinping's visit to Russia after taking office as President after 2013. According to the analysis, this fully reflects the great importance China attaches to Sino-Russian relations in the new era, and also shows that the development of Sino-Russian relations has undergone the test of vicissitudes and has a clear historical logic and strong endogenous driving force.

Exchanges between heads of state are the compass and star of Sino-Russian relations. This visit is the ninth time that Xi Jinping has set foot on Russian soil since he assumed the presidency. In the past ten years, the heads of state of China and Russia have reached a series of important strategic consensus on promoting the upgrading of Sino-Russian relations, maintaining regional security and stability, and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Especially in June 2019, during Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia, the leaders of the two countries signed and issued a joint statement, announcing the development of a new era of comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Russia. China-Russia relations officially opened a new era of higher level and greater development .

Talking about this visit to Russia, the Chinese side pointed out that this visit will further deepen the mutual trust and mutual understanding between China and Russia, and consolidate the political foundation and public opinion foundation of the friendship between the two peoples for generations.

This is a collaborative journey.

As China and Russia are the largest neighbors and major emerging market countries, practical cooperation is a key word in bilateral relations. The cooperation between the two countries has strong resilience, sufficient potential and large space. Especially in 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and Russia will historically exceed 190 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 116% over 10 years ago. China has become Russia's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years.

In his signed article, when reviewing the achievements of China-Russia practical cooperation, Xi Jinping specifically pointed out that the scale of two-way investment between the two countries has continued to grow, cooperation in major projects in the fields of energy, aerospace, and connectivity has been steadily advancing, and cooperation in emerging fields such as technological innovation and cross-border e-commerce The momentum is strong, and local cooperation is in the ascendant, which has brought tangible benefits to the people of the two countries, and also provided a steady stream of impetus for the development and revitalization of the two sides.

It is expected that the all-round pragmatic cooperation between China and Russia will continue to deepen during this visit. According to reports, during the visit, the two heads of state will have an in-depth exchange of views on practical cooperation issues of common concern. The two sides will solidly promote the docking and cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union, jointly maintain the stability and smoothness of the industrial chain and supply chain, strengthen exchanges at all levels between the two sides, consolidate the public opinion foundation of friendly relations between the two countries, and jointly promote the steady and long-term development of China-Russia cooperation.

In the first two months of this year, the growth momentum of Sino-Russian trade was still rapid. The bilateral trade volume reached 33.69 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 25.9%, successfully opening the door’. Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui pointed out in a recent interview that this once again shows that the fundamentals of Sino-Russian economic and trade cooperation are still solid.

It can be seen that practical cooperation is one of the most powerful endogenous driving forces for the development of Sino-Russian relations, and it is also a direct manifestation of the development opportunities for each other.

This is a journey of peace.

At present, the international and regional situations are complicated and the world has entered a new period of turmoil and change. Facing the changing situation, the Chinese official made it clear that the more turbulent the world is, the more China-Russia relations should move forward steadily.

Specific to this visit, the Chinese side stated that the two sides will, on the basis of the principles of non-alignment, non-confrontation, and non-targeting of third parties, practice genuine multilateralism, promote the democratization of international relations, build a multipolar world pattern, improve global governance, and serve the world Contribute to development and progress.

At present, the crisis in Ukraine is still the focus of global attention, and the outside world is concerned about whether the Chinese side will have specific actions to persuade peace and promote talks during this visit. The spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded on the 17th that President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia is also for peace. China will uphold its objective and fair position on the Ukrainian crisis and play a constructive role in promoting peace talks.

Maintaining world peace and promoting common development are the purposes of China's foreign policy. On the Ukraine issue, China has always stood on the side of peace, dialogue and historical correctness. In February of this year, China issued the document "China's Position on the Political Solution to the Ukraine Crisis", which proposed a comprehensive, comprehensive and feasible solution to the crisis. Just on March 16, when State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang had a phone call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba, he called on Ukraine and Russia to retain hope for dialogue and negotiation, and not to close the door to a political solution no matter how difficult and challenging they may be.

Complex problems have no simple solutions. As Xi Jinping said in his signed article, as long as all parties uphold a common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security concept, and adhere to equal, rational, and pragmatic dialogue and consultation, they will surely find a reasonable solution to the Ukrainian crisis.

Some experts analyzed this and pointed out that during this visit, the heads of state of China and Russia may also exchange views on regional peace and security issues and the establishment of a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture. This is also an important part of China's active participation in global security governance. .

The spring of the year is the first, and everything goes first. In the new year, Xi Jinping started his first overseas visit this year, and China's diplomacy pressed the accelerator. With the start of this journey of friendship, cooperation and peace, the diplomacy of the Chinese head of state will once again open a new chapter.Editor / He Yurong