JAKARTA. July 13 (Interfax) - China and Russia are planning a number of important high-level contacts for the second half of 2023, Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, said on Thursday.
Wang is meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of ASEAN events in Jakarta.
At the beginning of the meeting, Wang reminded Lavrov of the successful visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia in March 2023.
"Against the backdrop of tectonic global transformations, we stay committed to the crucial consensus of our heads of state, firmly support each other in the protection of fundamental interests, follow the path of peaceful development, neighborliness and mutual benefit, and promote a multipolar world order and democratization of relations. We are satisfied with the trend of development of our relations and are confident that our relations have a bright future," Wang said at the beginning of the meeting.
"A series of important high-level contacts are expected to happen in the second half of the year. It is important that we maintain good coordination, strengthen our bilateral and multilateral interaction, and successfully achieve the goals set by the two heads of state for the development of our relations," he said.
"China and Russia are partners in the ASEAN. The strengthening of our cooperation in the ASEAN helps harmonize our positions and promotes multifaceted collaboration in support for the ASEAN-centric system and the structure of cooperation with the Association," Wang said.
"The vast, substantive agenda of the Russian-Chinese dialogue requires regular comparison of stances," Lavrov replied.
"In this sense, today's meeting is quite timely. We support the ASEAN's focus on further constructive role in the Asia Pacific region and ASEAN-centric mechanisms and will promote their strengthening together with China - you and I relayed this position to ASEAN Chairperson, Indonesian Foreign Minister Ms. Marsudi yesterday," he said.
"We will continue to promote this fundamental stance at the events due in Jakarta, I mean the EAS [East Asia Summit] and the ARF [ASEAN Regional Forum]. As always, I count on the productive dialogue," Lavrov said.