Xi chosen as 'Person of the Year' in Russia

President Xi Jinping was named as "Person of the Year 2014" by the Russian Biographical Institute for the "strengthening of economic and political ties with the Russia", which reflects the rising influence of China and its leader.

It is the first time the institute has given the award to a leader of a country that doesn't belong to the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The Russian Biographical Institute, founded in 1992, is a nongovernmental and noncommercial organization based in Moscow. Its Person of the Year award acknowledges the recipients involved as being guided by the principles of social, spiritual and moral responsibility.