On June 22, 2012, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of Moscow Patriarchate, who is in China with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and at the invitation of China's State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), visited the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Shanghai.
Vladika visited the historic building of the consulate, which opened January 1, 1917, just weeks before the fall of the monarchy in Russia. Currently, in the visa section of the consulate premises on Sundays the worship services are conducted for the Orthodox community in Shanghai.
A meeting took place between the chairmen of the DECR and A.N. Smorodin, the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Shanghai.
During the warm and friendly conversation, there were exchanged views on the development of Sino-Russian relations in the religious sphere, the use of preserved Orthodox churches in Shanghai for liturgical purposes and organization of pastoral care of Orthodox compatriots in that city.