Xi, Putin jointly meet press

BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin jointly met the press at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday.

This is President Putin's 25th visit to China, fully demonstrating the high level and special nature of China-Russia relations, Xi said.

Over the past 30 years, the positioning of China-Russia relations has been continuously elevated, reaching the highest level in history as a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era and setting an example of a new type of major-country relations, Xi noted.

Over the years, the two countries have made important contributions to upholding international fairness and justice and promoting the building of a new type of international relations, becoming a key constant amidst profound global changes unseen in a century, he said.

Xi called for efforts to consolidate higher-quality political mutual trust and strengthen strategic support for each other. He said the two sides should further support each other firmly on issues concerning their core interests and major concerns, while continuing to strengthen strategic communication and exchanges at all levels.

The Chinese president stressed the need for China and Russia to empower higher-quality mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly promote their respective development and revitalization. The two sides should deepen the alignment between China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) and Russia's development strategy through 2030, and enhance and upgrade mutually beneficial cooperation across various fields, Xi said.

Xi stressed the need to promote higher-quality people-to-people exchanges and strengthen the foundation for lasting friendship between the two peoples across generations.

The two sides should take the China-Russia Years of Education initiative as an opportunity to further expand two-way student exchanges and deepen cooperation between universities and research institutions, he added.

Xi called on China and Russia to pursue higher-quality international coordination and work together to reform and improve global governance.

The two countries should oppose all forms of unilateral bullying and actions that seek to reverse the course of history, especially provocations that deny the outcomes of World War II and attempt to whitewash and revive fascism and militarism, he said.

Putin said Russia-China relations are currently at an unprecedentedly high level, with the two countries consistently advancing bilateral cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect, mutual assistance on an equal footing and mutual support.

The cooperation between the two countries is not directed against any third party or affected by geopolitical changes, Putin noted.

Russia and China will maintain close strategic coordination on the international arena, and work together to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and safeguard global security and stability, Putin added.