‘Despite the unstable situation in the world, trade and economic cooperation is constantly developing. The agreements reached in investment, industrial, transport and other spheres are being systematically implemented,’ Lavrov said in a video message posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website.

He said that the volume of bilateral trade, between the two nations, reached in 2021 a historic level, exceeding $140 billion.

‘Regardless of the political situation, the (Russian-Chinese Friendship) Society has consistently contributed to the strengthening of bilateral contacts, including people-to-people ones. Among its leaders and members we can count statesmen, diplomats, representatives of scientific and cultural elite,’ he stressed.

The Foreign Minister criticized the Western intentions to maintain its hegemony with the application of sanctions that threaten the world order and ‘use the most unscrupulous methods of geopolitical engineering in relation to Russia and China’.

The Russian-Chinese Friendship Society celebrates its 65th anniversary and is considered Russia’s oldest non-governmental organization aimed at developing relations with the Asian nation.

jrr/jf/hoo.