China, Russia agree to enhance investment cooperation

Beijing: China and Russia reviewed their investment cooperation progress and agreed to make efforts to overcome the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and facilitate the resumption of work and production in bilateral investment cooperation to yield more practical achievements.

The agreement was made at the seventh meeting of the China-Russia Investment Cooperation Committee co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng and Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, commended the sound momentum of investment cooperation between the two countries and said China stands ready to work with Russia to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and push China-Russia investment cooperation to a higher level.

Han pointed out that the two sides should seize the new opportunities and encourage enterprises from the two countries to conduct cooperation in fields of digital economy and anti-pandemic fight.

Han called on the two countries to take the opportunity of the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation to strengthen investment cooperation in areas including high-tech, information and communication, and biosecurity.

The two countries should deepen cooperation at local levels and encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to enhance cooperation, Han said, adding both sides should encourage financial innovation and support the expansion of local currency payment and settlement, giving full play to the supporting role of financial services in investment cooperation.

Han also called for joint efforts to build a fair, just and stable business environment to boost investors' confidence.

Belousov said facing the pandemic, Russia and China assisted each other, kept close coordination and made steady advancement in major investment cooperation projects.

Belousov also hailed Russia-China bilateral relations as a model of mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation. He said Russia is willing to work with China to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, overcome difficulties and give full play to the advantages of bilateral investment cooperation mechanism and promote comprehensive practical cooperation to achieve new progress.