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China ready to boost transport ties with Russia, says FM spokesperson in response to Putin's remarks about developing M12 highway project

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Jul 17, 2025 05:02 PM

China stands ready to work with Russia to continue deepening cooperation on transport, and tap the potential for transit transport, so as to facilitate cross-border travels, attract more mutual visits of tourists, and further enrich the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

Spokesperson Lin Jian made the comments at a press conference in response to a media inquiry about reported recent announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin about the plan of constructing new highways in the East Section of the M-12 Highway which is part of the Western Europe - Western China International Transit Corridor and leads up to Russia's border with China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and North Korea, and how the highway could impact the development of tourism and logistics between China and Russia.

Russia will consider issues of building access roads to the state border with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and North Korea, President Vladimir Putin said, Tass reported on Thursday.

"We are going to continue proactively develop the East route. It should be extended to Tyumen and linked with the upgraded backbone road network of Siberia and the Far East. This is exactly what I meant that there will be more to the launch of this section," Putin said at the opening ceremony of the M-12 East section via a videoconference link, according to Tass.

Lin said that under the strategic guidance of the two presidents, China-Russia transport cooperation has maintained sustained, sound and steady development, with cross-border connectivity making significant progress and internal driving forces for the mutually-beneficial cooperation becoming increasingly robust.

China is also steadily building a modern railway network that connects it with neighboring countries such as Mongolia, Russia, Vietnam and Laos, boosting regional links, economic cooperation and cultural exchanges.

A growing number of cross-border railways are thriving as economic arteries, powering development in cities along their routes. A freight train carrying Russian rapeseed recently arrived at the border residents' mutual trade zone of Manzhouli, a border city in Inner Mongolia profoundly shaped by the China-Russia railway, the Xinhua News Agency reported in June.