China's defense minister meets Russian counterpart in Moscow

State Councilor and Defense Minister Li Shangfu held official talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Tuesday.

The two defense ministers agreed that, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has been developing at a high level, according to a brief news release by the Ministry of National Defense.

The ministers said they believe the two militaries have maintained close coordination and cooperation in various fields, achieving fruitful results, constantly enriching the strategic connotation of the development of bilateral relations.

Both sides agreed to fully implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, keep close high-level communication, improve the military-to-military exchange mechanism, and expand cooperation between the theater commands, services and academies, so as to make new contributions to promoting the high-quality development of bilateral relations, safeguarding global and regional security and stability, and serving the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

During the talks, the two sides reaffirmed their firm support for each other in safeguarding their respective core interests, especially those issues in terms of sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and development, and reiterated their resolute opposition to external interference in their respective internal affairs.