China, Russia Enter New Stage of Strategic Partnership - Chinese FM

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Russian and Chinese leaders reached 107 bilateral agreements in the past two years.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — China and Russia have reached a very high level of cooperation in the past two years leading to a new stage of strategic partnership between Beijing and Moscow, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday.

"According to preliminary data, you [Russian and Chinese leaders] have reached 107 bilateral agreements in the past two years. Fifty-five of them have been implemented, 21 are long-term projects, while 31 are being actively implemented," Wang Yi said addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in the Kremlin.

Wang Yi arrived in Moscow on Tuesday with an official visit at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. One of the key issues on the agenda of the visit is to prepare for the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow on May 9 to attend the Victory Day celebrations.

Russia is China's ninth largest trading partner. Trade between the two nations stood at $90 billion in 2013 and reached $95.3 billion in 2014, according to the Chinese customs department. In 2015, their bilateral trade is expected to reach $100 billion, Wang Yi said at a press conference on March 8.

Moscow and Beijing have signed a number of strategically important agreements over the past year, including a major energy contract in May that guarantees the delivery of Russian gas to China for 30 years. The nations also actively cooperate in counter-terrorism, military, financial and other spheres.