Moscow, June 6: Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Moscow on Wednesday and praised China-Russia bilateral ties, during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, as two nations seek to ratchet up cooperation amidst rising tensions with the United States.
According to Dawn news reports, the Russian president said Xi’s visit was a “key event” in ties between the two nations. Xi was received with complete honours when he landed in Moscow at International Vnukovo airport, after which Xi said, “Our relationship will be better and better.”
“In recent years, thanks to your direct participation, the relationship between Russia and China has reached an unprecedentedly high level,” the Russian president said.
Following the meeting and a visit on Wednesday to the Bolshoi Theatre, Xi was slated to travel to Russian ex-imperial capital Saint Petersburg, during which he is expected to address an economic conference on Thursday and Friday hosted by Putin.
Ahead of his visit, during an interview with the Russian media, Xi said Russia and China “have strong political mutual trust and support each other firmly on issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns.”
Russian foreign policy official Yury Ushakov has earlier stated Putin and Xi would ink a new resolution over their “global partnership and strategic cooperation, which are entering a new era”.
While calling Beijing “Russia’s most important economic partner”, Ushakov said the trade partnership was increasing, which saw hike by 25 per cent last year to hit a new record $108 billion.