CASS and the Russian International Affairs Council held a webinar on July 2 to discuss promoting the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. They also released two joint think tank reports in 2020: The Essence and Connotation of the China-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination in the New Era and the Connection Between the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

Xie Fuzhan, president of CASS, Igor Ivanov, president of the Russian International Affairs Council, Zhang Hanhui, Chinese Ambassador to Russia, and Andrei Denisov, Russian Ambassador to China, delivered speeches at the opening ceremony.

Xie said that China and Russia, which are geographically connected, have developed good neighborly ties and become all-around strategic partners. The anti-pandemic campaigns of the two countries have injected new impetus into efforts to intensify the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. Amid a sharp contraction of global trade due to the pandemic, China-Russia economic and trade cooperation has maintained a sound development momentum. 　

Xie stressed that the alignment of the B&R initiative and the EEU has become a new engine for regional economic development. Despite the impact of the pandemic, the initiative has still shown strong vitality as China's trade with an investment in countries and regions along the B&R routes continue to grow rapidly. China is now the EEU’s largest trading partner and an important driving force for economic growth in the region. Since President Xi Jinping and President Putin signed the Joint Statement on Cooperation on the Construction of the Joint Eurasian Economic Union and Silk Road Projects in 2015, the cooperation based on the alignment of the initiative with the EEU has been steadily deepened. China-Russia cooperation has made fruitful achievements in such key areas as trade, energy, agriculture, transportation, telecommunications, the digital economy and finance, laying a solid foundation for developing a high-level economic partnership in Eurasia.

Ivanov said that the think tank cooperation between the Russian International Affairs Council and CASS has not been affected by the pandemic. The two think tank reports newly released have comprehensively and objectively analyzed the development trend in relations between the two countries and have proposed a series of feasible countermeasures and suggestions. Next year is the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation Between China and Russia. The Russian International Affairs Council and CASS should take this opportunity to continue to conduct joint research and make high-quality achievements.

Denisov said that China-Russia economic cooperation has huge potential and broad prospects despite some impact from the pandemic. Both sides will be committed to increasing bilateral trade volume to US$200 billion by 2024.