Russia, China to develop military cooperation

“The sides agreed to further cooperation between their military agencies with an emphasis on conducting joint exercises and patrols, as well as strengthening contacts between the general staffs,” the Russian Security Council said in a statement.

Nikolay Patrushev and Yang Jiechi expressed “mutual interest in maintaining a high level of military-technical cooperation,” the statement said.

Patrushev said that the development of a strategic partnership with Beijing is an unconditional priority of Moscow’s foreign policy. “An emphasis was placed on the importance of stepping up bilateral coordination on a range of issues on the international agenda. The secretary of the Russian Security Council emphasized that the policy of developing a strategic partnership with China is an unconditional priority of Russia’s foreign policy, which enjoys the broad support of the peoples of the two countries, and is based on deep mutual trust,” the statement added.

The parties also discussed ways to consistently strengthen trade and economic relations, according to the statement, TASS reported.

Representatives of ministries and agencies of the two countries took part in the consultations. The talks were held in the city of Nanping, the Fujian Province of China.