Putin: Russia Is China’s Leading European Partner as Strategic Ties Continue to Deepen

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that cooperation between Russia and China continues to advance steadily across a wide range of fields, including high-tech industries, science, education and space exploration. He made the remarks during a large press conference and Direct Line session held at Gostiny Dvor, TV BRICS reported.

Putin noted that bilateral trade turnover has reached approximately $240–250 billion, adding that at the national level Russia is China’s leading partner among European countries. He described this level of cooperation as a clear reflection of the strong mutual trust between the two states, expressing confidence that relations with China would continue to grow in the same constructive spirit in both the near future and the longer historical horizon.

Responding to a question from Xinhua News Agency journalist Liu Kai, the President was asked to evaluate the achievements of the Russian–Chinese strategic partnership. The journalist highlighted that next year marks two major milestones: 30 years since the establishment of relations of partnership and strategic interaction, and 25 years since the signing of the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation. Putin described Chinese President Xi Jinping as a dependable friend and a stable partner, stressing that this personal trust forms the cornerstone of the consistently developing relationship between the two countries.

During the press conference, Putin also addressed Russia’s domestic economic performance. He said current GDP growth stands at around 1 per cent, but over the past three years the economy has expanded by a cumulative 9.7 per cent. Manufacturing output increased by 3.1 per cent, while agricultural production grew by 3.3 per cent. He added that Russia has reached a historic low unemployment rate of 2.2 per cent, and forecast that inflation could fall below earlier projections to around 5.7–5.8 per cent by the end of the year.

Journalists from several TV BRICS partner outlets attended the event, including representatives from China’s Xinhua News Agency, Brazil’s Brasil de Fato magazine and Iran’s IRNA. IRNA correspondent Seyed Ahmad Najafi said the format of the event offered a comprehensive snapshot of Russia’s situation at year’s end, helping audiences understand both current conditions and future prospects, while also contributing to transparency and mutual understanding between countries.

The Direct Line received more than three million appeals from citizens, and Putin spent over four and a half hours responding live to questions from both journalists and the Russian public.