Strong Sino-Russian ties hailed by leaders in greetings

President Xi Jinping said on Friday that he fully expects to maintain close contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin through various forms to guide the development of bilateral ties and upgrade cooperation in all fields.

Xi made the remark when exchanging New Year greetings with Putin.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, Xi extended sincere greetings and best wishes to Putin and the Russian people.

When Xi and Putin met via video link in June, they officially announced the renewal of the Treaty of Good-neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between China and Russia, which was signed by the two countries in 2001.

In his message on Friday, Xi said that guided by the idea of seeking enduring friendship and win-win cooperation, China-Russia relationships are flourishing.

In 2021, the two countries further deepened political mutual trust, achieved fruitful results in all-around pragmatic cooperation and pushed forward with major strategic projects in areas such as energy and aerospace, he said.

The two sides also closely coordinated with each other on international and regional affairs and practiced true multilateralism, injecting precious stability and positive energy into the complicated international situation, he said.

Xi said he was deeply pleased with the achievements in bilateral ties.

The two countries will continue with a new chapter of enduring bilateral friendship in 2022, which marks the year of cooperation in sports between China and Russia, he added.

For his part, Putin extended his sincere New Year greetings to Xi, and wished the Chinese people happiness and good health.

In the past year, Russia-China cooperation achieved fruitful outcomes with political dialogue at all levels having been actively carried out between the two sides, he said.

He said he believes that the two countries will make new achievements in bilateral cooperation in all fields through joint efforts.

Putin, who will visit China and attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics next month, said he very much looks forward to meeting Xi in Beijing.

On the same day, Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also exchanged New Year greetings.

Li said he stands ready to continue to work closely with Mishustin to push for new progress in bilateral pragmatic cooperation.

Mishustin said he expects the two sides to maintain constructive dialogue on issues of common concern and wishes success to the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics.