The development of China-Russia ties is not for the short run, but based on long-term strategic interests, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said on Sunday.
Zhang made the remarks when responding to a query about major-country relations in an interview with Phoenix TV in Beijing.
"The China-Russia relationship enjoys a high level of political mutual trust, a solid political foundation, and well-established communication mechanisms, guaranteed particularly by mechanisms for high-level exchanges. Because of the broad interests shared between both sides, the development of bilateral relations has a promising future, without the need for us to worry about what could go wrong," Zhang said.
"As for whether Russia-U.S. relations could affect China-Russia relations, I'd say they are like two lines independent from each other. It is up to Russia and the United States to decide how they develop their relations. The development of China-Russia ties is not for the short run, but based on long-term strategic considerations," he added.
Zhang said China and Russia, as two neighboring countries, persist in pursuing good neighborliness, mutually beneficial cooperation and strategic coordination in developing their ties.
"China and Russia develop our relations based on shared interests. The two are neighbors and also major countries. They are the only two countries among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council that share a border. Therefore, maintaining good neighborliness, mutually beneficial cooperation and strategic coordination is an inevitable choice for us," said the ambassador.
Development of China-Russia ties based on long-term strategic interests: ambassador
