Vladimir Putin gave an interview to the leading Chinese media outlets in the run up to his visit to the People’s Republic of China where he will take part in the APEC Summit.

- The next APEC Summit will be held in Beijing soon. How does Russia estimate the role of this association? What does the Russian side expect from this meeting? In your opinion, how can Russia and China consolidate their cooperation within the framework of this Forum contributing to peace, stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region?

- The APEC progressive development during a quarter of a century has persuasively demonstrated the relevance of this authoritative association format, a platform to agree upon common “rules of the game” in the trade and economic sphere in the APR.

It is worth noting that all the decisions reached within the framework of the Forum are adopted on the basis of the principles of mutual respect, accommodation of the interests of each other, which reflects the spirit of APEC. Under the current conditions, when some countries prefer to act on the international arena using the methods of political, economic and often even coercive pressure the role of APEC as an effective coordinating mechanism for building a new regional architecture is indispensable.

Russia actively participates in APEC activities. Full-scale participation of our country in regional integration processes contributes to the development of national economy and social sphere, to the development of the regions of Siberia and the Far East.