"Absolutely," Putin told the Nippon TV channel and the Yomiuri newspaper, answering the question whether China is Russia’s most important partner.
The president characterized Russian-Chinese relations as a special strategic partnership.
"We have never had such a level of trust with China before. China is our major trade and economic partner among foreign states. We implement joint multi-billion projects," the Russian leader said.
He praised Russian-Chinese cooperation in such spheres as nuclear energy and space.
"We have wide-ranging joint projects in the nuclear energy sphere, logistics, machine building and trade as a whole. We have good joint projects in the helicopter and aircraft manufacturing industry. We are considering cooperation and are actively cooperating in space. There are good prospects there," Putin said.
"We have similar positions on major international issues or even, as diplomats say, our views are identical. We often have shared positions on key issues of the modern international agenda. We have very close humanitarian contacts, wide-ranging youth exchanges, educational and regional contacts, and all of them continue to develop. We are expanding and improving the infrastructure of our relations," Putin added.
