Premier Li Keqiang meets the press today

On China-Russia relations

President Xi’s upcoming visit to Russia itself illustrates the importance of China-Russia relations. I remember when I visited Russia last year, Russian leaders directly said China-Russia political relations are already very good and asked why we don't spend more time on talking about practical cooperation.

I feel strongly that Russian leaders are eager to enhance bilateral tangible cooperation and make use of the complementary advantages in terms of trade. Two-way trade between China and Russia stands at $80 billion. I think through our joint efforts, it will not be a problem to double the trade.

China and Russia are working together to push forward practical cooperation and strengthen coordination in regional and international affairs. Cement bilateral relations will not only beneficial for the countries, it will also help maintain regional and world peace. In fact, China and its neighboring countries are working together to promote mutual-beneficial cooperation and make full use of the each country’s advantages … to fuel the peaceful development in the Asia-Pacific.