Full coverage: Premier Li Visits Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Russia

Following his business in Latvia on Sunday, the Chinese premier will depart for Russia to attend the 21st Regular Meeting of the Prime Ministers of China and Russia.

In a recent interview with CCTV, the Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev expressed his confidence in their bilateral relations.

China and Russia cooperate closely in various fields including the economy, trade, and investment. Bilateral trade volume has been growing rapidly over the years.

"I remember that about ten years ago, we set a goal of 100 billion dollars for the trade volume between the two countries. We had basically achieved the goal before 2014. I believe that if we can keep the momentum, we can fulfill a goal of 200 billion dollars by 2020," said Medvedev.

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, Western countries like the United States imposed several economic sanctions on Russia. The international market price of crude oil decreased significantly, which has stunted the Russian economy. Medvedev acknowledged that Western countries' sanctions have harmed Russia's economy.

"The current economic situation is more complex. As we all know, it is related to the sharp decrease in energy prices to some degree," he said.

"In our country, the long-standing problems in economic structure are still there. The so-called sanction also brought some impact, and the impact is mutual. As you know, sanction is a double-edged sword. When imposing sanctions on others, one's own business is also at the risk of sanction. Therefore, generally, I think the current situation is OK. We are expecting that the GDP will start to pick up at the end of this year."