Russia-China cooperation on trade, the economy, military and defense has reached the highest level of trust, and continues to steadily expand, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Our relations, which are currently at a historically high level exemplify how state-to-state ties must be constructed these days,” Putin said at the opening session of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.

Putin stated that trade turnover between Russia and China has seen historic growth of around 25 percent to US$108 billion, beating all forecasts.

According to Putin, the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is turning into a highly successful project that is gradually extending its global reach.

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China’s BRI megaproject (commonly referred to as the ‘new Silk Road’) was announced six years ago by President Xi Jinping. It covers 152 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa, and is expected to significantly boost global trade, and cut trading costs by half for the countries involved.

The Russian leader highlighted the comprehensive nature of the strategic bilateral ties between Russia and China as the countries approach the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

China is hosting the second Belt and Road Forum from April 25-27 to further promote and reaffirm support for its ambitious global trade initiative. The event will be attended by business leaders and officials from 37 countries.

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