On Wednesday, July 10, the 9th
meeting of the Inter-parliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the National People's Congress
of China was held at the State Duma. It was opened by the Chairman of the State
Duma Vyacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National
People's Congress Zhao Leji. Zhao Leji pays an official visit to Russia at the invitation of Chairman of the State Duma.
“The dynamic of relations between our states was set by our leaders: Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. They have created an atmosphere of openness, trust and strategic partnership,” emphasized Vyacheslav Volodin, opening the meeting of the Commission.
“For our part, we should do everything to provide legislative support to the decisions taken at the level of heads of states, to contribute to the development of relations,” said the Chairman of the State Duma and added that parliamentarians of the two countries also should find new formats of cooperation.
“Our countries have achieved a lot in developing relations: an unprecedented level of trust and the conditions created by the leaders of our states helped us reach such a level of trade turnover that previously seemed unthinkable,” he added.
Approximation of legislation for development of the two states
“Our countries can serve as a successful example of forming a new model of interstate relations, building good-neighborly relations between major powers,” said the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji. He also agreed that cooperation between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping helped reach “an unprecedented high level” of mutually beneficial cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China.
“In the conditions of turbulence in the international arena, strengthening of the strategic cooperation between our countries contributes not only to the national development and prosperity of our countries, but also to maintaining global strategic stability,” emphasized Zhao Leji. He condemned the policy of unilateral sanctions and attempts to build a unipolar world.
The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress noted the exchange of legislative experience, especially in the areas of economic development, rule of law, national security protection and environmental protection, among the key priorities of joint work between parliamentarians of the two countries.
“It is important to learn from each other's useful experience,” stressed Zhao Leji. He also called for joining efforts to improve legislation to counter sanctions and foreign interference in internal affairs.
Security cooperation
The Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Alexander Babakov
Alexander Mikhailovich
noted that “the work of the Inter-parliamentary Commission
is an important and effective instrument of parliamentary control and implementation
of interstate agreements.” Discussion of current issues and exchange of experience allow parliamentarians to improve national legislation, according to him.
The Chairman of the Supervisory and Judicial Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress Yang Xiaochao said that the 10th meeting of the Inter-parliamentary Commission would be held in 2025 in China.
“Nowadays, we witness the aggressive policy of the United States and NATO countries, their systematic violation of the fundamental norms and principles of international law” said the Chairman of the Committee on Security and Corruption Control Vasily Piskarev
Piskarev 
Vasily Ivanovich .
“They use a cynical disrespect for the position of other sovereign states on peace and security issues as their foreign policy instrument. Their unfair competition, economic and political blackmail, and sanctions pressure lead the world to a global catastrophe,” he added. The deputy told his colleagues from the National People's Congress about the legislative decisions aimed at countering foreign interference and protecting sovereignty that the State Duma had been recently developing. Vasily Piskarev expressed hope that cooperation between the parliamentarians of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China “will help us continue to effectively counter subversive activities against our states.”
The Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the National People's Congress on Constitution and Law Luo Yuan said that China also paid great attention to issues of ensuring national security: there had been adopted laws on countering terrorism, espionage, cyber and food security, regulating the activities of foreign media, etc. “There has been created a legal system of national security in China that takes into account Chinese specifics,” stressed the parliamentarian.
Children's rights protection and development of humanitarian cooperation
The Chairwoman of the Committee on Family Protection, Issues of Fatherhood, Motherhood and Childhood
Nina Ostanina
Nina Alexandrovna
noted that protecting children's rights “is a priority not only
for Russian policy, but also for the policy of the leadership of the People’s
Republic of China”. ‘We have many opportunities for cooperation in this
area,” the deputy said.
Nina Ostanina also noted the importance of protecting children and adolescents from negative information that could harm their physical and moral health. “We know that there are similar laws in China,” said the Chairwoman of the Committee and called on her Chinese colleagues to share their experience and results of work, in particular, in combating bullying of minors.
The Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the National People's Congress Wang Ke agreed that cooperation in the field of youth policy “is an important area of the strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China”. “The leaders of our countries Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin noted the importance of further cooperation in the field of youth policy and outlined areas for this cooperation,” said the parliamentarian.
The member of the Committee of the National People's Congress on Social Development Zhang Chengfu told his Russian colleagues in detail about the legislative work in the National People's Congress on the prevention of crimes among adults and their protection in cyberspace.
The Chairman of the Committee on Science and Higher Education Sergey Kabyshev
Kabyshev 
Sergey Vladimirovich noted the growing interest of Chinese students in studying in Russian universities. “It is very important to enhance cooperation in the area related to teaching Chinese and Russian languages, studying the history and culture of our countries,” he added.
The member of the Committee of the National People's Congress on Education, Science, Culture and Healthcare Wang Chunfa said: “Cultural and humanitarian cooperation is an important part of bilateral relations, it unites our nations.” He called for developing cooperation in the areas of archeology and protection of cultural monuments, paying special attention to the development of tourism, as both countries have a huge number of places, that tourists can visit, and improving legislation.
Economic cooperation
The Chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy Maxim Topilin
Maxim Anatolievich
noted that the rapid development of Russian-Chinese relations also affected the economic sphere.
“We, as representatives of the legislative branch of power, attach great importance to this and try to make our own contribution to the development of our economic ties,” the deputy said. He recalled that China had been Russia’s main trading partner for almost 15 years, and the Russian Federation had become the sixth in the list of China’s main trading partners in 2023.
Maxim Topilin said that Russian exports to China, investment cooperation, and transport infrastructure had been actively developing, and there had been created joint Russian-Chinese enterprises. According to the deputy, all this requires a legislative support from parliamentarians, and this issue is being discussed in the State Duma and the National People's Congress.
Jiang Chenghua, member of the Committee of the National People's Congress on Foreign Affairs, emphasized that under the strategic leadership of the heads of states, trade and economic ties had achieved fruitful results: trade turnover had reached a historic peak.
“The US is engaged in protectionism, excessive interpretation of the concept of national security, sanctions, pressure on enterprises, creation of dividing lines. That violates the WTO rules. More and more countries do not support this approach and propose that the US, trampling the international rules, should be brought back into the system,” he added.
