China, Russia reaffirm support on multilateral groupings, multilateralism

In a latest meeting between senior diplomats of Beijing and Moscow, the two countries reiterated support for each other's rotating presidency of multilateral groupings, and both underscored the need to shore up multilateralism.

On Tuesday, Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, met with Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council Sergei Shoigu in St. Petersburg.

The senior Chinese diplomat has travelled to Russia to attend the 14th Meeting of BRICS high-ranking officials responsible for security matters and national security advisors in St. Petersburg.

During the meeting, both sides said they "will continue to advocate and practice genuine multilateralism," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Wang said China supports Russia's BRICS presidency and is willing to work together to deepen mutual trust and cooperation among BRICS member countries.

The goal is to "build the BRICS mechanism into a major outlet for emerging forces to make their voices heard", to make it an important platform for solidarity and collaboration within the Global South, and to break new grounds in the BRICS cooperation, Wang said.

Shoigu appreciated China's support for Russia's BRICS presidency and said Russia is willing to continue to strengthen strategic communication with China, closely coordinate and cooperate with China to ensure the success of the BRICS Summit in Kazan next month.

At the talks, Moscow underlined its support for China's taking the rotating chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The Russian side said it will work together to make the SCO more efficient, pragmatic and united, and to inject more stability into the turbulent world.

The sides also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis.

Shoigu briefed Wang on Moscow's position and welcomed the six-point consensus jointly proposed by China and Brazil for the crisis' political settlement.

Russia is pleased to see this consensus widely endorsed by the international community, he said.

Wang noted that China has always held an objective and fair attitude on the Ukraine issue.

Beijing will continue to work to strengthen the balanced, objective and reasoned voices in the international community, and to "garner more international consensus and pool necessary conditions" for an early cease-fire and the political settlement of the crisis, he said.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia.

Last year, the annual bilateral trade volume reached $240.11 billion, a year-on-year increase of 26.3 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Wang mentioned that "China-Russia relations have kept the momentum of stable and healthy development", and China is willing to strengthen strategic communication with Russia and continuously enrich the strategic connotation of the relations.

Shoigu said the two countries have maintained high-level exchanges and fruitful cooperation in various fields, demonstrating the high level of their strategic collaboration.