On the afternoon of October 22 local time, President Xi Jinping held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kazan Kremlin.

President Xi expressed his great delight in coming to the ancient Russian city of Kazan to attend the XVI BRICS Summit at the invitation of President Putin. This is the third meeting between us this year. Around 400 years ago, the Great Tea Road that connected our two countries went past Kazan, through which tea leaves from China’s Wuyi Mountain region found their way into many Russian households.

Earlier this month, we exchanged congratulatory messages on the 75th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic relations. Looking back at this shared journey, China-Russia relations have forged ahead despite wind and rain.

We have achieved many groundbreaking results and found the right way for two big, neighboring countries to get along with each other characterized by non-alliance, non-confrontation, and not targeting any third party. In the new era, you and I have always paid great attention to and steadily steered the direction of China-Russia relations.

The two sides have acted in the spirit of lasting good-neighborliness and friendship, comprehensive strategic coordination, and mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, and kept deepening and expanding our comprehensive strategic coordination and all-round, practical cooperation.

This has injected strong impetus into the development, revitalization and modernization of our two countries, and contributed significantly to enhancing the well-being of the people of China and Russia and to safeguarding international fairness and justice.

The world today is facing momentous transformations unseen in a century, resulting in a fast-changing and turbulent international landscape, yet I am confident that the profound and lasting friendship between China and Russia will not change, nor will our sense of responsibility as major countries for the world and for the people.

The BRICS mechanism is the world’s most important platform for solidarity and cooperation between emerging markets and developing countries. It is a pillar for realizing an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. The BRICS Summit tomorrow will be the first summit after last year’s expansion and carry great significance for the advancement of greater BRICS cooperation.

China highly commends Russia’s great efforts as BRICS Chair. I look forward to having in-depth discussions with President Putin and other participating leaders on the future development of the BRICS mechanism to build consensus among the parties, send a positive message of solidarity and cooperation, and advance strategic coordination and practical cooperation between BRICS countries in various fields.

In so doing, we can secure more opportunities for the Global South and make an even greater contribution to building a community with a shared future for mankind.