Chinese MP arrives in Moscow for key inter-parliamentary meetings

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (Parliament) Zhao Leji has arrived in Moscow to participate in a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Commission and the BRICS Parliamentary Forum, the Duma press service reported.

"On Tuesday, July 9, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji arrived in Moscow. Zhao Leji was met at the gangway by First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Ivan Melnikov," Caliber.Az reports per the statement

On Tuesday evening, Zhao Leji and Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin will hold an informal meeting, during which they will visit major Moscow landmarks. A bilateral meeting between the State Duma Speaker and the head of the Chinese parliament is scheduled for July 10. This meeting will be followed by the ninth session of the interparliamentary commission on cooperation between the Russian Federal Assembly and the National People's Congress.

Additionally, Zhao Leji will take part in the BRICS Parliamentary Forum in St. Petersburg on July 11-12.

Russia assumed the one-year rotating chairmanship of BRICS on January 1, 2024. Since its inception in 2006, BRICS has experienced two phases of expansion. In 2011, South Africa joined the original group, which included Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Although Argentina was invited to join in August 2023, it declined at the end of December. On January 1, 2024, five new members began full-time work in BRICS: Egypt, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia.