President Xi Jinping and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speak about the need to improve interconnectivity, including high-speed rail construction, during their meeting on Tuesday in Moscow. Xi also proposed working with Russia to develop the Arctic passage into a new Silk Road. Reuters

President Xi Jinping called on Tuesday for cooperation on the Arctic passage with Russia to help jointly build a Silk Road through the ice.

Xi made the remark during his meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin in Moscow on his two-day state visit to Russia.

Xi also called for the implementation of projects to boost interconnection.

Calling Russia an important partner in advancing the building of the Belt and Road, Xi said that the two countries have huge potential and a bright future in pragmatic cooperation.

Both should expand cooperation in areas such as the economy, trade, investment and energy; implement major cooperation projects in manufacturing; and enhance high-speed rail cooperation, Xi said. He also called for more efforts to push forward the construction of the Moscow-Kazan high-speed rail project as soon as possible.

The two countries should deepen local-level cooperation, and give priority to working together in cross-border infrastructure construction, resource exploitation, modern agricultural methods and production capacity, he said.

The two countries should also expand people-to-people exchanges in education, culture, sports, tourism and media, Xi said.

He said China is confident of working with Russia to deal with global challenges.

They should stick to mutual support and mutual openness, expand cooperation to create a good environment for the development of their relations and use more power to maintain world peace and stability, Xi said.

Medvedev said that Moscow would like to expand cooperation with Beijing in such areas as trade, investment, finance, energy, agriculture, aircraft manufacturing, infrastructure and the Arctic passage.

The Russian prime minister extended a warm welcome to Xi, saying that the Russia-China relationship has reached a high point in its history.

Noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in May, Medvedev said that Russia is willing to cooperate with China to implement relevant key projects.

The Russia-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination is good for the interests of the people of both countries, and also good for global peace and development, he said.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn