Mikhail Mishustin takes part in the Russian-Chinese Business Forum

The Prime Minister spoke at a forum's plenary session.

The Russian-Chinese Business Forum is taking place as part of Mikhail Mishustin's official visit to the People's Republic of China.

The forum's business programme includes a plenary session with the participation of the heads of the Russian and Chinese delegations and five roundtable discussions on bilateral cooperation priorities:

Russia-China transport interaction: Development scenarios.

Agricultural sector dialogue: Current challenges and modern solutions.

Prospects for Russian-Chinese cooperation in industry (in conjunction with the Russian regions' presentation of their industrial and investment potential and business initiatives).

Energy as a driver of Russia-China cooperation.

Prospects for Russia-China dialogue in digitalisation.

The forum will be attended by over 1,300 representatives of the business circles from Russia and China, as well as representatives of several Russian regions.

Mikhail Mishustin's remarks at the plenary session:

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to welcome the participants, guests and hosts of this large forum. I would like to thank the People's Republic of China and personally President Xi Jinping, my colleague Premier of the State Council Li Qiang, Vice Premier He Lifeng and Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao for the warm welcome accorded to the official delegation and business leaders.

As President Putin emphasised, Russian-Chinese relations have a special nature. Our peoples are bound by ties of neighbourliness, mutual assistance, support and friendship.

The heads of a number of government agencies and regions, as well as top executives from many major companies have come here from Russia with me. All of them are open to dialogue, to developing bilateral contacts in their respective areas and expanding areas for cooperation.

I am positive that the business forum will provide an opportunity to get to know each other better and to find new reliable partners. This will contribute to productive work and the strengthening of ties between Russian and Chinese businesses, and to launching a large number of promising projects in a variety of fields.

The wonderful feeling here is inspiring. We are now in Shanghai, one of the most powerful and dynamic metropolitan areas in China and the entire Asia-Pacific region.

Last year, Russia was subjected to unprecedented sanctions pressure seeking to break our economy, collapse the national currency, set off devastating inflation and attack the standard of living of ordinary people.

None of what our detractors dreamed of, happened. We have not only survived, but continue to move forward.

I'm sure that deeper Russian-Chinese cooperation and expanded collaboration will have a positive impact on strengthening our countries' economies as well.

The unemployment rate in Russia is at an all-time low of 3.5 percent. As of early May, inflation slowed to 2.3 percent in annual numbers which is the lowest figure in Europe.

Financing institutions, currency and the stock markets are functioning as usual thanks to the existing national payment and settlement infrastructure.

In terms of a number of economic parameters, we have seen significant growth rather than a drawdown. Thus, last year we reached a new all-time high in the grain harvest at 157 million tonnes, thus significantly surpassing even the numbers achieved in the Soviet Union. Now Russia fully meets domestic demand for grain, sugar, vegetable oil, meat, and fish and then some.

Acting on the instructions issued by the President of Russia, wide-scale programmes are being implemented in order to upgrade infrastructure, including public utilities, in the regions. Significant federal funding has been allocated for these purposes.

We are making serious efforts to facilitate business activities. In particular, we lowered corporate revenue tax rates in a number of industries. We continue to simplify customs clearance procedures and to alleviate the administrative burden. More than 2.5 million permits have been renewed automatically. The public services portal can now be used to obtain over 200 different licenses.

Our country is oriented towards dynamically developing markets. We have expanded trade contacts with the fast-growing economies. These words fully apply to our great friend, China.

Russia's foreign trade grew by over 8 percent last year to $850 billion with exports up almost 20 percent.

We will continue to build up ties with friendly countries. This is one of the six key tasks that President Putin identified for this year.

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