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Lavrov will take part in conference on Russia-Chinese relations in Moscow

Special attention will be paid to linking the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Silk Road Economic Belt

MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the 2nd international conference "Russia-China: toward new quality of bilateral relations" that will take place on May 30-31 in Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.

"Lavrov will make a speech at the 2nd international conference ‘Russia-China: toward new quality of bilateral relations’," Zakharova said adding that the conference was organized by the Russian Council on International Affairs.

She added that among participants in the conference will be Russian Deputy Foreign Ministers Igor Morgulov and Oleg Syromolotov, as well as co-chairs of the Russian-Chinese Committee for Friendship, Peace and Development Dai Bingguo and Boris Titov. Russian and Chinese political and public figures, business representatives will discuss the most pressing issues and decide on the most effective forms of bilateral cooperation.

"Special attention will be paid to linking the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Silk Road Economic Belt," Zakharova said. "They will also consider creating optimal conditions for forming the principally new economic and political environment on the Eurasian space," she added.

EAEU and Silk Road Economic Belt

On 8 May 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed an agreement on cooperation in the framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt project. The agreement envisages "linking" the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road Economic Belt. "In fact, we are talking about entering the new level of partnership in the future that envisages common economic space on the Eurasian continent," Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks.

The Silk Road Economic Belt is a project of creating a transport, energy and trade corridor between the countries of Asia and Europe. The idea of constructing the Silk Road was put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September 2013.

The name of the project traces back to trade routes of medieval caravans that lay through the territories of modern Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, India, Turkey, Iran and Greece. These routes were later called the "Great Silk Road.".