"The decisions made by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President [Xi Jinping] have defined strategic guidelines for stepping up cooperation in eight priority areas. The governments of Russia and China have launched a coordinated effort to implement the agreements reached at the highest level," Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin stated during a meeting with Li Qiang, the premier of the State Council of China.
Mishustin said that relations between Russia and China "are at an unprecedentedly high level, characterized by mutual respect for each other's interests, by the intention to jointly respond to new challenges that are associated with increasing turbulence in the international arena and the illegal sanctions pressure from the collective West."
He added that "as our Chinese friends say, unity makes it possible to move mountains."
Commenting on economic issues, Mishustin stressed that Russia-China trade may top $200 billion in 2023.
"I am convinced that this year we will not only fulfill the task set by the heads of state to increase mutual trade to $200 billion ahead of schedule, but will also pass this milestone," he said.
The head of the Russian government - ranking official added that 70 percent of cross-border settlements between Russia and China are already carried out in national currencies - rubles and yuan.