On September 18, at 14.00, the Valdai Discussion Club and China Public Diplomacy Association (CPDA) will hold a joint conference, titled "Belt and Road Initiative: A New Pillar in Russia-China Partnership.”

       Over the past few years relations between China and Russia have acquired the character of a stable strategic partnership, virtually close to a real alliance. The level of trust between the leaders of both countries is high. Russia and China are the most visited countries by their leaders with official and working visits. The volume of Chinese investments in Russia is constantly growing, and the presence of Russian investors in the People's Republic of China is also significant. Military cooperation is on the rise. The Valdai Discussion Club and China Public Diplomacy Association together with the Global Times newspaper will discuss the issues of great importance for Russia and China.

       During the conference the well-known experts of both countries will discuss the prospects for bilateral economic cooperation within the framework of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. Moscow and Beijing are in search of new points of contact, while both countries are working to implement in Eurasia their own integration and other initiatives .The confluence of the Eurasian integration and the Belt and Road Initiative, adopted in May 2015, is an important area of ？？cooperation. The experts will discuss, how these projects can coexist and be beneficial to Russia and China.

       Another important issue will be the role of mass media in the modern world. Due to the new global information reality, Russia and China are faced with the need to create an effective information strategy that could support the foreign policy of the two countries and coordinate their information policies. A positive example was the launch of the Russian Katyusha TV channel in China. The experts will also discuss cooperation between Russia and China in fight against the so-called "fake news."

       Speakers:

       BYSTRITSKIY Andrey, Chairman of the Board, Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club

       HU Zhengyue, Vice President, CPDA

       BORDACHEV Timofey, Programme Director, Valdai Club Foundation

       AFONTSEV Sergey, Head of the Economic Theory Department at the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations

       ZHANG Xiyun, Former Chinese Ambassador to Ukraine

       RUAN Zongze, Executive Vice President of China Institute of International Studies (CIIS)

       VOLIN Alexey, Vice Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation

       ZHOU Mingwei, Former Director-General of China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration

       SHI Ding, Executive Chief Editor of Huanqiu.com

       BOVT Georgiy, Editor-in-chief, Russkiy Mir.ru magazine

       Information for the media: To attend, please fill out the accreditation form or call +7 915 077 97 22.

       Information for participants: If you have any questions, please call +7 903 730 31 18.