Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a plenary meeting of the 21st St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russia, June 2, 2017. (Kremlin Photo)

ST. PETERSBURG, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the Russian economy has entered a new stage of growth as the growth rate of foreign investment has surpassed the level of its economic growth.

In a speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said that foreign direct investment in Russia reached 7 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of 2017, up 2.3 percent year on year, the best performance in the past three years.

Higher growth rate of foreign investment than economic growth rate not only marks a new era of the Russian economy, but also lays the foundation for its future development, said Putin.

He called for efforts to maintain and even accelerate the current positive situation of economic growth, in a bid to ensure that Russia achieves its previously set goal of realizing a growth rate higher than world average by the year 2020.

The Russian economy has increased for three consecutive quarters, with the GDP growth rate in April this year standing at 1.4 percent, Putin said.