On May 31, Xiong Zhengyu, Secretary of the CPC Yichang Municipal Committee, met with Mikhail Avdeev, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Russian Federation and also member of the State Duma as well as his party in Yichang.

　　On behalf of the CPC Yichang Municipal Committee and the Yichang Municipal Government, Xiong Zhengyu extended a warm welcome to the communist party visiting group of the Russian Federation. He said that China and Russia have maintained frequent high-level contacts and the mutual political trust between the two countries is constantly deepening, with the bilateral cultural exchanges thriving and the concept of ever-lasting friendship deeply rooted in the hearts of both Chinese and Russian people. Yichang has close ties with Russia. Early in 2004, Yichang signed a letter of intent for friendly cooperation with Tolyatti of Russia, starting an era of friendly exchanges, mutual benefits and win-win cooperation. And later in 2015, Yichang Angel Group invested in Lipetsk of Russia to build the only Chinese plant for yeast production in Russia. Yichang has also established a sister city relationship with another Russian city after the official approval of the agreement to have a friendly relationship between Wujiagang District of Yichang and Dankov District of Lipetsk this March. All these have laid a solid foundation for deepening Yichang-Russian cooperation. He also expressed his sincere hope for both sides to take this visit as an opportunity to expand friendly exchanges and promote cooperation not only in economic and trade investment, but also in culture and tourism, so as to jointly usher in a brighter future.

　　In response, on behalf of the visiting group, Mikhail Avdeev said that they are sincerely happy for the event that Chinese President Xi Jinping has chosen Russia for his first state visit after being re-elected as the President of China this March. He noted that all the group members were deeply impressed by the distinctive cityscape and the beautiful ecological environment of Yichang during the trip, and that they marveled in particular at the world wonder, the Three Gorges Dam, constructed with relentless efforts of the Chinese people, and that Russia has maintained frequent exchanges with Yichang and the plant set up by the Angel Group in Lipetsk has become a benchmark. He also expressed his sincere hope that more Yichang Enterprises will visit Russia and strengthen all-round cooperation with Russian partners in industrial development and city construction. In the end, he gave his word that they will assist Yichang enterprises to cope with difficulties in investing in Russia and will promote the bilateral cooperation for greater achievements.

　　Zhang Lixin, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Yichang Municipal Committee and Secretary General of Municipal Committee, attended the meeting. ( Reporter/Lei Pengcheng )