Putin, Xi note importance of increasing Russian agricultural exports to China - Kremlin aide

MOSCOW. Feb 8 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have called for further diversification of bilateral economic relations, in particular, by larger Russian agricultural exports to China, in a phone call on Thursday, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said.

"They emphasized the importance of diversification of bilateral trade and economic cooperation by larger Russian agricultural exports to China. To our knowledge, agricultural goods rank second in the range of Russian exports to China, surpassed only by hydrocarbons," Ushakov said at a press briefing after the Putin-Xi phone call.

Additionally, the sides stressed the need for further improvement of transport interconnection between Russia and China, an upgrade of border infrastructure and checkpoints, and larger bilateral cargo transportation, he said.

Humanitarian cooperation was highlighted during the call, Ushakov said. In particular, the sides "stated the full recovery of various kinds of educational, cultural and sport relations after the decline caused by the pandemic," he said.

Ushakov reported another largescale interstate project, the Culture Cross-Years due in 2024-2025.