Moscow was clear in March. At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Russia from March 3 to 3.

This is President Xi Jinping's first foreign visit since his re-election earlier this month, and his second visit to Moscow after more than three years. Against the backdrop of the accelerated evolution of the world's unprecedented changes in a century and the world entering a new period of turbulence and change, this journey of friendship, cooperation and peace has attracted the attention of China, Russia and the international community.

In the face of the complex international situation, why did Russia make Russia the first country to visit after re-election?

During President Xi Jinping's visit, he repeatedly talked about the term "historical logic" -

"China and Russia are each other's largest neighbors, and consolidating and developing long-term good-neighborly and friendly relations with Russia conforms to historical logic and is China's strategic choice, which will not change due to a momentary event."

History is magnificent. "Our understanding of time is measured in centuries and millennia." The historical logic of the development of China-Russia relations connects the past, present and future with a broad historical perspective, reveals the historical inevitability of maturity, stability, autonomy and tenacity of Sino-Russian relations, and shows the Marxist materialist view of history, giving profound enlightenment to the world.

(i)

"China-Russia relations have gone through ups and downs for more than 70 years. Looking back at the past, we deeply feel that today's Sino-Russian relations have not come easily, and the friendship between China and Russia has lasted for a long time and must be cherished. ”

"History and practice tell us that the key to China-Russia relations being able to withstand the test of the changing international situation lies in finding the right way for countries to get along."

On the occasion of his state visit to Russia in Moscow, President Xi Jinping explained the historical context of the development of China-Russia relations in a signed article published by the Russian media in a time dimension of more than 70 years.

Looking back at the vicissitudes of the century, as neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, China and the Soviet Union had a history of alliance and confrontation, and the relations between the two sides took a detour. It is precisely on the basis of profoundly drawing on historical experience and accurately grasping the trend of the times that China and Russia have established the principle of "non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party" and the concept of "friendship from generation to generation and never being an enemy" in developing bilateral relations.

Ten years ago, President Xi Jinping came to Russia on his first foreign visit after being elected president for the first time. Over the past 10 years, President Xi Jinping and President Putin have met more than 10 times, maintained close contact and communication in various ways, and jointly led the in-depth development of the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination between China and Russia in the new era.

On the afternoon of March 3, local time, President Xi Jinping held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Moscow Kremlin. This was a small-scale meeting between the two heads of state. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ju Peng

During this visit, President Xi Jinping and President Putin had long, in-depth and frank exchanges, conducted sincere, friendly and fruitful talks on China-Russia relations and major international and regional issues of common concern, and reached many new important consensuses.

President Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Russia "have set a model of a new type of major-country relations featuring mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation." China and Russia are both neighbors and great powers. For world peace and stability, major countries shoulder special responsibilities. The paradigm of major country relations is a good perspective for observing Sino-Russian relations.

Is the exchange between major countries a closed and exclusive bloc politics, in which you lose and I win, or is it an honest and frank gentleman's friendship?

Partnership rather than alliance, dialogue rather than confrontation, win-win rather than zero-sum, the correct way of getting along between countries in China-Russia relations is of remarkable significance for the exchanges between major countries.

As a model of new international relations, Sino-Russian relations are fundamentally different from the military-political alliances of the Cold War and transcend the outdated model of state-to-state relations. Countries that are accustomed to looking at Sino-Russian relations with the filter of Cold War alliances see nothing more than their own reflections.

(ii)

Where does the strongest impetus for the development of interstate relations come from?

During the reporter's stay in Moscow, almost every Russian he met was full of joy and expectation for President Xi Jinping's visit. Newspapers, television, and the Internet broadcast news of President Xi Jinping's agenda in Moscow; Visiting the places where the convoy passed, many Russians waved enthusiastically... To our Chinese friends, the Russian people welcome them from the bottom of their hearts.

The people are the creators of history. To develop bilateral relations, we must conform to the will of the people and safeguard the fundamental interests of the two peoples. The good-neighborliness, friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Russia are precisely where the common will and common interests of the two peoples lie.

A set of figures and facts spanning 10 years intuitively shows the momentum of vigorous development of China-Russia relations in the new era, fully demonstrating the great development potential of all-round pragmatic cooperation between China and Russia:

In 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and Russia exceeded 1900 billion US dollars, an increase of 10% over 116 years ago. China has been Russia's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years. The scale of two-way investment between the two countries continues to grow, cooperation on major projects in the fields of energy, aerospace, and interconnection is steadily advancing, cooperation in emerging fields such as scientific and technological innovation and cross-border e-commerce is gaining momentum, and local cooperation is in the ascendant...

The rapid development of these cooperations, while bringing tangible benefits to the people of the two countries, has also provided a steady stream of impetus for the respective development and revitalization of China and Russia.

On the afternoon of March 3, local time, President Xi Jinping held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Moscow Kremlin. After the talks, the two heads of state jointly signed the Joint Statement of the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination in the New Era and the Joint Statement of the President of the People's Republic of China and the President of the Russian Federation on the Development Plan for Key Directions of China-Russia Economic Cooperation until 21. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xie Huanchi

During the visit, the two heads of state jointly signed the Joint Statement of the President of the People's Republic of China and the President of the Russian Federation on the Development Plan for Key Directions of China-Russia Economic Cooperation until 2030, confirming that bilateral economic cooperation will be carried out in eight key directions.

China and Russia have always firmly supported each other in taking a development path suited to their national conditions and supported each other's development and revitalization. At present, China is comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese-style modernization, and Russia is also advancing the national development goal before 2030. As President Xi Jinping pointed out, China and Russia are "fellow travelers on the road of development and revitalization."

Whether from the reality of international relations or from the long lens of history, Russia needs a prosperous and stable China, and China also needs a strong and successful Russia. China and Russia join hands to promote the development of bilateral relations and strengthen mutually beneficial and win-win practical cooperation, which is of key significance to safeguarding the well-being of the two peoples and promoting each other's development and revitalization.

(iii)

On the afternoon of March 3, local time, President Xi Jinping held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Moscow Kremlin. This was a wide-ranging meeting between the two heads of state. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shen Hong

The visit coincided with an important time node - the 10th anniversary of President Xi Jinping's proposal to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

In March 2013, during President Xi Jinping's first state visit to Russia, he delivered a speech at the Moscow Institute of International Relations, in which he pointed out that the degree of interconnection and interdependence of countries has deepened unprecedentedly, and human beings living in the same global village have increasingly become a community with a shared future between you and me and me.

Over the past 10 years, the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind has become increasingly deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and building a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness, inclusiveness, cleanliness and beauty has become the common pursuit of more and more countries.

At the same time, however, there are also some worrying trends in the world: hegemonic and hegemonic bullying such as bullying, cleverness and zero-sum games are deeply harmful, peace deficits, development deficits, security deficits and governance deficits are increasing, and human society is facing unprecedented challenges.

In that famous speech 10 years ago, President Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that the world trend is mighty, and if it goes well, it will prosper, and if it goes against it, it will die. To keep up with the pace of the times, we must not enter the 21st century with our bodies stuck in the past, in the old era of colonial expansion, and in the old framework of the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game.

These remarks are powerful and have profound practical significance.

Both China and Russia are permanent members of the UN Security Council and major world powers, both support world multipolarization, and both promote democracy in international relations. In the face of the current world situation, China and Russia have an unshirkable responsibility and should work together to guide and promote global governance in a direction that meets the expectations of the international community and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

"The relationship between the two countries goes far beyond the bilateral scope and is crucial to the world order and the future and destiny of mankind." "Under the new historical conditions, the two sides will view and grasp China-Russia relations from a broad and long-term perspective and make greater contributions to the cause of human progress."

President Xi Jinping's words show the profound feelings and historical responsibility of a major country leader.

(iv)

The crisis in Ukraine has attracted the attention of the international community. During his exchange of views with President Putin on the Ukraine issue, President Xi Jinping also spoke of "history" - "Historically, conflicts ultimately need to be resolved through dialogue and negotiation."

Since the outbreak of the crisis, from putting forward the "four commons", "four shoulds" and "three points of thinking", to the release of the document "China's Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukrainian Crisis", to the signing of a joint statement by the heads of state of China and Russia emphasizing the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis through peace talks... China has always decided its position on the merits of the matter itself and actively persuaded peace and promoted talks, in sharp contrast to the practice of some countries that continue to add fuel to the fire and indiscriminately impose unilateral sanctions.

On the afternoon of March 3, local time, President Xi Jinping held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Moscow Kremlin. This is after the talks, the two heads of state jointly meet with reporters. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shen Hong

There are no easy solutions to complex problems. "The more difficult it is, the more space must be left for peace; The sharper the contradictions, the more we must not give up our dialogue efforts", President Xi Jinping's exposition demonstrates China's objective and fair position of firmly standing on the side of peace, dialogue and history, and conveys the historical initiative spirit of facing difficulties and promoting the solution of problems in the right direction.

Looking at the world, the evolution of the century-old changes is accelerating. Under the chaotic and intertwined world situation, promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind is destined to be an expedition full of glory and dreams, and a voyage through stormy seas. From proposing the Belt and Road Initiative to proposing the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, China has been unswervingly determined and unswervingly committed to building a better world.

The great Russian literary master Chernyshevsky once wrote: "The road of history is not a sidewalk on Nevsky Prospect, it advances entirely in the field, sometimes through the dust, sometimes through the mud, sometimes across the swamp, sometimes through the jungle." ”

President Xi Jinping once quoted this sentence and pointed out that the history of the development of human society proves that no matter what twists and turns it encounters, history always moves forward according to its own laws, and no force can stop the wheel of historical progress.

This is also the historical logic of China's world.

Planner: Ni Siyi, Huo Xiaoguang

Main authors: Yang Yijun, Liu Kai

Coordinator: Liu Hua, Han Mo, Wang Xuan, Bai Jie

Vision|Editor: Wu Jingjing, Zhang Huihui

Xinhua News Agency co-produced by the International Department

Produced by Xinhua News Agency Studio No. 1