Talks between Xi, Putin 'very successful': Chinese vice-FM

BEIJING - The talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday were "very successful," Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Le Yucheng told media.

Putin, who is on a visit to China, attended Friday's opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

In recent years, the two leaders of China and Russia held 38 talks, and communicated with each other over 100 times through various means including phone calls and letters. This is unique among leaders of major countries, Le said.

Speaking of the first offline meeting between the two leaders in over two years, Le said Friday's talks were rich in content and yielded fruitful results.

In a cordial and friendly atmosphere, President Xi and President Putin had an in-depth and thorough exchange of views on China-Russia relations and a series of major issues concerning global development and stability, drawing up a blueprint and charting the course for China-Russia relations under the new historical conditions, he said.

The two presidents issued a joint statement, which will have an important and far-reaching impact on improving the global governance system under the new situation, Le said, adding that the joint statement has become the most important political achievement of their meeting on Friday.

Under the framework of this visit, the two countries signed nearly 20 documents on cooperation in areas including economy and trade, investment, energy and sports, laying a solid foundation for deepening bilateral pragmatic cooperation.

Le said that the fast train of the China-Russia relations is always running on its track, having no terminal but only filling stations.

The two heads of state have reiterated in the talks that any attempts to damage China-Russia relations or sow discord between the two countries are doomed to failure, he said.

Both leaders agreed to continue practicing true multilateralism, and shoulder major-country responsibilities in global issues of pressing concerns, Le added.

The leaders also jointly announced the official launch of the Years of Sports Exchanges between China and Russia, which is the eighth national level celebration of a specific theme between the two countries, said Le.