Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has shown a more positive development momentum and entered a new era of high-level and great development since this year.
Facing the complicated and ever-changing international situation, China and Russia have played the role of great powers, committed to promoting the political settlement of hot issues and serving as the ballast to safeguard both regional and world peace and stability.
The primary reason for the strong vitality of China-Russia relations is to always follow the concepts and principles of equality, mutual trust and win-win cooperation.
The two countries have always adhered to the principle of good-neighborly exchanges.
China and Russia are both world powers with a common border of more than 4,300 kilometers, but different in history, tradition and culture. They have also encountered bumps in the two countries’ bilateral relations.
But, during the more than two decades after the Cold War, especially since the two sides signed the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, the leaders of the two countries have taken a broad and long-term view and been in compliant with the trend. They have always unswervingly stuck to the theme of peace and development, adhered to the principle of good-neighborly relations, and jointly promoted the development of China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination in a forward-looking and stable manner for the better.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has positioned the relationship between the two countries as one of "good neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, good friends offering timely help for each other, and good partners with absolute sincerity in coordination".
Since 2013, China and Russia have had frequent high-level interactions, and Chinese President Xi has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than 20 times. On September 12 this year, President Xi Jinping attended the plenary session of the 4th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, Russia.
On the same day, the Vostok-2018, a joint military exercise between China and Russia, officially kicked off at the Tsugol training range in the Russia's far eastern Trans-Baikal Territory, further manifesting the high-level good-neighborly friendship, equality and mutual trust between the two countries further.
The two countries have always adhered to the spirit of equality and mutual trust in cooperation.
Equality and mutual trust are important foundations for friendly relations between nations. The key reason for China and Russia becoming "good neighbors, good friends and good partners" is to establish high-level strategic mutual trust and to be able to achieve harmony, inclusiveness and equality in the real sense of the words.
In fact, there have always been attempts to create cacophony between the two countries by dispersing fallacies such as the so-called "China-Russia competition for Central Asian dominance", "China's economic plundering" and "China's dependency on Russia in energy resources".
However, the two countries can uphold the spirit of equality and mutual trust, rationally treat and conscientiously control the differences in their foreign policies, and smoothly promote the docking cooperation between the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
China and Russia have surpassed the historical circles of either allying or confronting for great powers, and creatively built a relationship of big powers that are cooperative but nonaligned with each other. This relationship is not only beneficial to the sovereignty and security of the two countries, but also conducive to regional and world peace, stability and development.
The two countries have always adhered to the norm governing international relations of mutual respect.
China and Russia are big countries with great development potential and far-reaching international influence. The two sides firmly support each other in pursuing development paths that suit their national conditions, and in safeguarding their own security and development rights, establishing a role model for big and neighboring countries.
The two countries respect each other's cultural traditions and values and achieve harmonious co-existence between different civilizations and development models.
The two sides have always supported each other and respected each other's strategic choices on major issues involving sovereignty and dignity, development interests and security concerns.
The building of China-Russia relations is getting "higher and firmer", because the two countries understand each other and respect each other's core interests, and support rather than "counterbalance" the steady development of the other.
The two countries have always held fast to the strategic concept of win-win cooperation.
Building a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation as the core was first proposed by Chinese President Xi during his visit to Russia in 2013, and it is also an important guiding ideology for the development of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.
China and Russia are both permanent members of the UN Security Council and major emerging market countries. They share broad common interests in many fields and have a tangible common pursuit of national development, regional security and world peace.
Both China and Russia firmly uphold the core position of UN and advocate the establishment of a new international order towards a more just and rational direction.
They all firmly advocate safeguarding their own interests while taking into account the interests of others, promoting common development while promoting their own development, and striving to achieve a win-win or multi-win situation.
They all insist on the security concept of standing together in weal or woe while opposing the law of the jungle mostly advocated by the West. They advocate the joint efforts of the international community to promote the political settlement of hot issues including Syria, Afghanistan, Korean nuclear and Iranian nuclear.
They firmly oppose the hegemonic claims of individual countries in the field of space and network, committed to building a new strategically stable trend across the world featuring health and stability.
Under the background of profound and complex changes in the international situation and the plural challenges facing world peace and development, China and Russia have become the fundamental guarantee for regional security and stability and important forces for promoting world peace and development.
The healthy and in-depth development of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination will make new and greater contributions to the construction of a new type of international relations and a community of shared future for mankind.
Disclaimer: The author is Li Shuyin, a military researcher with the Chinese Military Academy of Sciences. The article was published on the PLA Daily on Oct, 12. It is translated from Chinese into English and edited by China Military Online.
