BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) — The development of China-Russia relations in the past three-quarters of a century has shown that to continuously consolidate and develop bilateral relations featuring permanent good-neighborly friendship, comprehensive strategic coordination and mutually beneficial cooperation serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples, meets the expectations of the international community and conforms to the trend of the times, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.

Xi made the remarks as he exchanged messages of New Year greetings with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

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

Xi said that in the face of changes unseen in a century and volatile international and regional situations, China-Russia relations have always maintained healthy and stable development, and moved steadily in the right direction in 2023.

During their two meetings in Moscow and Beijing this year, Xi said he and President Putin had candid exchanges and reached broad consensus on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues of common concern.

Under the two leaders' joint guidance, the two sides have further deepened political mutual trust, strengthened strategic coordination and achieved new results in mutually beneficial cooperation, Xi said.

As annual bilateral trade volume reached the target of 200 billion U.S. dollars ahead of schedule and the Years of Sports Exchange successfully concluded, Xi said the material and public foundations of bilateral relations have become more solid.

Xi said he and President Putin have jointly announced that the two sides will hold 2024-2025 China-Russia Years of Culture, noting that the two countries will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia.

Xi said he stands ready to maintain close contact with President Putin, and hopes to take the 75th anniversary and the China-Russia Years of Culture as an opportunity to guide the two countries to enhance mutual trust, expand cooperation and carry forward friendship so as to ensure that the China-Russia relationship is moving steadily along the right path.

In the message, Putin extended sincere New Year greetings to Xi and wished the friendly Chinese people happiness and good health.

Putin noted that they met twice this year, injecting strong impetus into the all-round development of Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has been booming, with bilateral trade surpassing the target of 200 billion dollars ahead of schedule and setting a new record, Putin said.

The Russia-China Years of Sports Exchanges were successfully held, the Russia-China Years of Culture are poised to start and the two countries will soon celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, he said.

It is believed that with the joint efforts of both sides, the fruitful cooperation between the two countries in various fields will achieve greater results and bilateral cooperation within the framework of the United Nations, the G20, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS mechanisms will also make new progress, he added.

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

Under the strategic guidance of Xi and Putin, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has been developing in a sustained, healthy and stable manner, and the practical cooperation between the two sides in various fields has been continuously deepened, Li said.

China is ready to continue to work with Russia to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, strive for more results of practical cooperation and inject new impetus into the development of bilateral relations, Li added.

Noting that in 2023, the 28th regular meeting between Russian and Chinese heads of government has achieved fruitful results, Mishustin said Russia is ready to maintain constructive communication with China to push bilateral cooperation to a higher level.

(Source: Xinhua)