Interview: China-Russia friendly relations deeply rooted in hearts of two peoples: ambassador

China-Russia ties have become one of the most stable, healthy and mature bilateral relations in the modern world, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"The idea of friendship, passed on from generation to generation, is deeply rooted in the peoples' hearts," Li said.

According to the ambassador, the good relations between the two peoples are a consequence of their good understanding of each other.

"Cultural exchanges help eliminate misunderstandings between different cultures. This is an important bridge, which helps the peoples of different countries promote friendship and mutual understanding," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during his annual press conference in January, said that Russia-China relations were experiencing an all-time high as regards cooperation, and that Russia did not have such an extensive network of cooperation mechanisms with any other country.

According to Li, people-to-people exchanges have not only been an important pillar of China-Russia relations, but have also long driven the expansion and deepening of interaction between the two countries.

Li said that intensified cultural cooperation has contributed to the long-term development of bilateral relations and the preservation of friendship between the two countries and peoples, while bringing tangible benefits to the socio-economic development of both China and Russia.

The ambassador recalled that cultural contacts between China and Russia have been rapidly developing for more than 20 years, from the signing of an agreement on cultural cooperation in 1992 to the establishment of the China-Russia Committee on Humanitarian Cooperation in 2007.

In October 2009, the governments of China and Russia signed an agreement on the establishment of cultural centers, which saw the opening of a Russian cultural center in Beijing in September 2010 and the unveiling of a Chinese cultural center in Moscow in December 2012.

The cultural centers of the two countries have been busy organizing a huge amount of cultural events annually. As more and more people are becoming involved in the work of the centers, the centers have evolved into important platforms to enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples, Li said.

While cross-cultural festivals -- held in each country in turn -- have garnered widespread attention among both peoples, the program that resulted in the translation and publication of a number of masterpieces of Chinese and Russian literature was a great success among the readers of the two countries, Li said.

Moreover, China and Russia have held various reciprocal theme years, with themes including language, tourism, youth exchanges and media.

According to Li, these events have contributed to the development of friendly contacts between the two peoples and to practical bilateral cooperation in all areas, especially in the cultural sector.

Also, on occasions such as the 60th anniversary of the establishment of China-Russia diplomatic relations in 2009 and the 10th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Friendship in 2011, leaders of the two countries attended major celebrations and delivered important speeches, Li said.

"These cultural activities are consistent with state diplomacy and have gained positive responses from the people of the two countries," Li said.

He said Beijing and Moscow are currently implementing the 2014-2016 cooperation program between the two countries' culture ministries.

"There will be practical cooperation in such areas as music, theater, cinema, fine arts, folk art, conservation and restoration of cultural relics, as well as cooperation between museums, libraries and archives," the ambassador said.

The Chinese and Russian people are becoming increasingly interested in culture, which is resulting in them becoming more interested in each other's culture as well, Li said.

The diplomat expressed the hope that while strengthening official contacts, the culture ministries of the two countries would also focus on people and the market.

The culture ministries should strengthen their efforts in guiding and regulating people-to-people and business contacts in the cultural sphere, so as to establish a multi-faceted, multi-channel and comprehensive China-Russia cultural exchange framework, he said. Endi