Backgrounder: Important meetings between Xi, Putin in last two years

BEIJING - Russian President Vladimir Putin is the foreign head of state with whom Xi has met most frequently over the past two years.

The following are important meetings between the two leaders since Xi took office in March 2013.

Late March 2013

Moscow, Russia

Xi paid a state visit to Russia, the first foreign country he visited as Chinese president.

President Xi Jinping (L) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, the capital of Russia, March 22, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

Both leaders agreed that the timing and conditions were ripe for the two countries to carry out large-scale economic cooperation, pledging to make full use of various cooperation mechanisms and invigorate collaboration on large joint projects of strategic significance.

They signed a joint statement on deepening the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, which laid out the priorities of future bilateral cooperation and called for a new type of relations between the great powers in the international arena.