"At the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Xi Jinping will attend the Fourth Eastern Economic Forum on September 11-12," Lu Kang said, as quoted by the Xinhua news agency.
READ MORE: Business Dialogues With India, Vietnam on Eastern Economic Forum Agenda
Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Hanhui said on Friday that Xi Jinping's visit to the Eastern Economic Forum can be considered a working visit, but its content and organization is not inferior to the official visit, which reflects the special nature of relations between the two countries.
"The participation of President Xi Jinping in the forum can be called a working visit, not an official visit. But from the perspective of the organization by the Russian side, this is a very high-level trip, which demonstrates the traditional friendship of the two leaders, the special character and high level of bilateral relations…. The scale and importance of this trip are not inferior to the official visit," Zhang said at a press conference.
The program of the visit is very rich, and the Chinese side expects that the results would be very fruitful, the diplomat stressed.
Russia and China are preparing to sign a number of documents on bilateral cooperation in the framework of Xi Jinping's participation in the EEF, Zhang noted, adding that China attaches great importance to the forum and actively supports the Russian side in its conduct.
This time, the leaders of the nine Chinese provinces and cities and 13 Russian regions will take part in the dialogue of the heads of regions of Russia and China, he added.
He stressed that now is the right time and there are favorable geographical conditions for strengthening cooperation between all parties.
"The Eastern Economic Forum was launched in 2015 on the personal initiative of President Putin, an important effort of the Russian side to promote cooperation in the Far East. Over four years, the scale of the forum is constantly increasing, and the influence is growing every day. The forum has already become an important platform for strengthening contacts and joint discussion of cooperation," Zhang concluded.
Previously, Russian Far East Development Deputy Minister Alexander Krutikov said that business dialogues with delegations from Europe, Vietnam, India and South Africa were included on the agenda of the upcoming Eastern Economic Forum, while Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said that Russia and Japan plan to sign some 40 intergovernmental and economic agreements at the forum.