Prime movers

Both sides need to amplify the exemplary role of their new type of international relationship

Twenty years after the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, the two peoples now have new expectations for the bilateral relationship, and the world anticipates more results from the China-Russia partnership. In the face of the once-in-a-century pandemic and profound changes unseen in a century, the world has to make historic decisions: cooperation or confrontation, solidarity or isolation, advancement or regression. At this critical moment, we need to amplify the exemplary role of the treaty in building a new type of international relationship.

First, China and Russia should join hands to inject momentum into the global economic recovery and buttress its sustained development. The two countries should grasp the master key to all problems facing the world, which is development, firmly safeguard the multilateral trade system, and promote global trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, as well as regional economic integration. They should work together to solve the three most prominent contradictions facing the world economy--the lack of growth engines, the lagging behind in economic governance and imbalanced development. China and Russia should employ their experiences in fighting the novel coronavirus and resuming production and business to promote the global economic recovery and help the world emerge from the shadow of the pandemic and get back onto the track of prosperous development. They should keep increasing the internal driving force of their cooperation, further deepen their economic and trade ties, and fully release the cooperation potential in technological innovation and emerging sectors, with the aim of raising the bilateral trade volume to $200 billion by 2024.China and Russia should also carry forward the "Shanghai Spirit" by giving full play to their role in global institutions such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, and developing the "China-Russia plus "partnerships, and expand common interests with other countries. The two sides are expected to create more global public goods by making full use of multilateral financial institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank.

Second, the two countries should continue to take the lead in promoting world peace. China and Russia ought to follow the strategic direction of development for their own bilateral ties and fend off any external disruptions or attempts to undermine their friendly ties and keep developing in ways that are selected by their own peoples and suit their own conditions, while supporting each other in managing their domestic affairs. They should strengthen exchanges of experiences in governance and support each other's political stability. They should firmly oppose any "color revolution" provoked by foreign forces, and cooperate in law enforcement and security and the fight against the "three evil forces" of religious extremism, separatism, and terrorism. The two countries are expected to actively engage in new fronts of global governance, such as cyberspace, polar region affairs, deep sea, outer space and biosecurity, and promote the building of global cyberspace governance and data security systems that are multilateral, democratic and transparent, thus playing their due roles in solving global hotspot issues such as climate change and nuclear security management.

Third, China and Russia should continue to build a new model of international relations and set an example for the rest of the world. There is only one Earth. Living on this small planet, no country can detach itself from the rest of world, and no country is in a position to dominate international affairs alone. Only by conforming to the times and carrying out global cooperation can we find solutions to the problems facing the world. China and Russia will promote a new type of international relationship featuring non-alliance, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third countries, and unswervingly safeguard the global system with the United Nations at the core, the global order based on international laws and the basic principles governing international relationships based on the UN Charter. The two countries are expected to make their contributions to world peace, stability, development and safety, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and new international relations featuring mutual respect, justice and fairness, and win-win cooperation.

The author is vice-minister of Foreign Affairs. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.