Greetings by Minister of National Defence of the People's Republic of China General Li Shangfu
Esteemed Minister Shoigu!
It is a pleasure to meet you in Moscow. I thank my Russian friends for the warm welcome.
I want to express my sincere gratitude for the first congratulations letter that was issued on your behalf after I was appointed Minister of Defence.
Comrade Minister, then I also received an invitation from you to visit Russia. For this, I offer my sincere thanks.
Comrade Minister, you are an old good friend of the Chinese people, the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and you have made an important contribution to promoting the relationship between the two nations and the armed forces.
And before that, when I was working in other positions, I had met you several times. Your candour and knowledge left a lasting impression on me.
I am sure that we will definitely maintain a good working relationship and personal friendship in the future.
In order to carry out the agreements made by the heads of our states last year, President Xi Jinping made a state visit to Russia where he met with President Putin and established crucial agreements to advance the comprehensive development of the Chinese and Russian armed forces.
My first trip abroad after being appointed Minister of Defence is to Russia to show the outside world how far along China-Russia relations have come. And to demonstrate a strong determination to strengthen strategic interaction between the armed forces of China and Russia.
President Putin met with me right away when I got to Moscow. I consider it a great honour.
Yesterday we also visited the Military Academy of the Russian General Staff, and I got a lot out of that visit. It was very enlightening. Russian officials are paying close attention to my official visit.
The armed forces of China and Russia will definitely carefully implement all the agreements reached by the heads of states, promote military and military-technical cooperation between China and Russia, and take them to a new level.