China seeks more cooperation with Russia in energy, agriculture

Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin shake hands ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit meeting. (EPA images pic)
BEIJING: China is ready to deepen cooperation with Russia in energy, agriculture and other investments, Premier Li Qiang said during a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow on Monday.
Li told Mishustin that China welcomes more agricultural and food products from Russia, according to the official news agency Xinhua.
“China also hopes Russia will make it easier for Chinese enterprises to invest and operate there,” Xinhua said in its report, citing Li.
Mishustin told Li that the cooperation between the two sides has repeatedly proven its resilience to external challenges.
“Our cooperation in the energy sphere is of a special, strategic nature and spans the oil, gas, coal and nuclear sectors,” Mishustin told Li, according to a transcript from the meeting published on Russia’s government website.
Russia, waging war against Nato-supplied Ukrainian forces, and China, under pressure from a concerted US effort to counter its growing military and economic strength, have increasingly found common geopolitical cause.
Beijing and Moscow announced a “no limits” strategic partnership just days before Putin sent tens of thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
Xi has met Putin more than 40 times over the past decade, and in recent months Putin has publicly referred to China as an ally.