普京接受慎海雄独家专访
Just ahead of his trip to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin had an exclusive interview with Shen Haixiong, president of China Media Group.
俄罗斯总统普京中国行之前接受中央广播电视总台台长慎海雄的独家专访。
Topics of their conversation have ranged from Russia-China partnership, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to this year's World Cup in Russia.
The interview took place last Thursday in Moscow.
This is the first interview with a foreign media outlet Putin has accepted as part of his new presidential term.
It's also the first time that he has sat down exclusively with a Chinese media outlet at the Kremlin.
The over-half-an-hour interview began with discussions about Russia's relationship with China.
Putin has depicted China as a reliable partner, ally and friend, hailing the bilateral relationship as unmatched in the world.
He has attributed the bilateral relationship to the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation signed between the two sides back in 2001.
He also suggests the similar ways the two sides want to build their nations and treat their people have brought Russia and China ever closer.
"What's the most important part of the speech delivered by President Xi Jinping to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China? What did the president talk about? That's improving the lives of the people. There are many different ways to attain that goal, but the goal remains the same. For Russia, besides improving the living standards of our citizens, we don't have any other goals. Based on this, we are also considering how to construct Russia-China relations, how to fulfill these goals and ensure national security and how to strengthen the effort to build the new economy especially in terms of modern innovation, digital economy, gene technology, modern harmonious society and the governance of the country and its economy. So we share many similarities and I believe any efforts will lead to new progress," said Putin.