China, Russia upgrade relations for new era

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin while posing for photos ahead of their talks in Moscow, Russia, June 5, 2019. Xi Jinping held talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Wednesday, June 5, 2019. [Photo: Xinhua/Ding Haitao]

The presidents of China and Russia have agreed to upgrade bilateral relations after their latest meeting in Moscow.

President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to develop a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for a New Era at a meeting on Wednesday.

Both agreed to uphold the notion of good neighborliness and win-win cooperation.

"The China-Russia relationship is seeing a continuous, steady and sound development at a high level, and is at its best in history. Both sides have firmly supported each other in their efforts to defend respective core interests and nurtured strong political and strategic mutual trust. Both countries have actively pushed forward all-around cooperation as internal driving forces of bilateral ties are emerging, and the convergence of the two countries' interests is deepening. China and Russia have played active roles in international affairs and global governance, and made important, constructive contributions to maintaining world peace and stability as well as international fairness and justice," said Xi Jinping.

This is the first state visit to Russia following Xi Jinping's re-election as Chinese president last year, and is also the eighth time he traveled to the country since 2013.

Xi Jinping said the two sides are facing a bigger picture.

"This year marks the 70th anniversary of the China-Russia diplomatic relationship. It's a milestone and also a new starting point. As the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, China and Russia are shouldering an even greater expectation from the peoples of the two countries and the international community. The Chinese side is willing to join Russia in amplifying the positive effect of the two countries' high-level political relationship, bring more benefits of bilateral cooperation to the two peoples, and present more China-Russia options for global affairs."

Xi Jinping also lauded the achievements in traditional fields including aviation and agriculture while vowing to promote cooperation in new fields, such as e-commerce.

He called for more people-to-people exchanges.

China is a major trading partner of Russia, with a record-high volume of over 100 billion U.S. dollars last year.

Putin said the two sides will further promote ties in areas including energy resources and sports.

Both Moscow and Beijing also agreed that the Korean Peninsula issue needs to be addressed in a peaceful way.

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of a series of documents between the two countries.

Those include joint declarations on promoting global stability and lifting bilateral relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for a New Era, and several cooperation deals in fields including medicine, aviation, education and trade.

President Xi is on a three-day state visit to Russia. He is scheduled to attend this year's St. Petersburg International Economic Forum later this week.