China, Russia vow to foster cooperation, deepen ties

President Xi Jinping has expressed confidence that China-Russia cooperation in various fields would create new opportunities for growth in the new year as he exchanged New Year greetings with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

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

Nothing that the year 2025 marks the final year of China's 14th Five-Year Plan and the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, Xi said that no matter how the international landscape evolves, China remains committed to deepening comprehensive reforms, advancing Chinese modernization and promoting global peace and development.

Xi voiced his readiness to maintain close exchanges with Putin and keep China-Russia cooperation on the right course. He also stated his willingness to continue consolidating and deepening China-Russia ties featuring permanent good-neighborly friendship, comprehensive strategic coordination and mutually beneficial cooperation.

According to Xi, the goal is to inject strong momentum into the development and modernization of the two countries, contribute to the well-being of the two peoples and safeguard international fairness and justice.

On his part, Putin extended his heartfelt New Year and Spring Festival greetings to Xi, wishing the Chinese people happiness and wellbeing.

Putin mentioned that the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries is advancing in an orderly manner in areas such as economy and trade, energy, transportation and science and technology. The opening of the Russia-China Years of Culture has created more new opportunities for the two countries to expand cultural exchanges.

Looking ahead into the new year, Putin said he is willing to keep close working contact with Xi, jointly drive the constant development of bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields, and further strengthen bilateral coordination and cooperation on multilateral platforms such as the United Nations, the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Group of 20.

This is not only in line with the interests of the two peoples, but also conducive to maintaining international and regional security and stability, he added.

Also on Tuesday, Premier Li Qiang and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin exchanged New Year's greetings.

Li said that China is willing to work with Russia to take the important consensus reached by the two heads of state as the fundamental guideline to push China-Russia relations and cooperation in various fields to a new level.

Mishustin said Russia is willing to maintain constructive exchanges with China with a high degree of mutual trust, and it believes that the consensus reached by the two sides will help push bilateral cooperation to a higher level.

As part of frequent high-level interactions, Xi and Putin held three meetings last year in Beijing, Astana in Kazakhstan, and Kazan in Russia, respectively. They also maintained communication through phone calls and exchange of letters.

Trade between China and Russia reached $222.775 billion between January and November in 2024, up 2.1 percent year-on-year.

Zhang Hanhui, the Chinese ambassador to Russia, said the two heads of state's guiding role represents a fundamental guarantee for China-Russia relations to maintain a high level of operation.

"President Xi Jinping and President Putin have known each other for many years and have met 45 times so far, building deep political mutual trust and personal friendship," Zhang wrote in a recent article.

The two leaders "have exchanged in-depth and frank views on major issues of common concern, such as bilateral relations, international and regional situations and global governance. They have reached a series of important consensus, and jointly led the development of bilateral relations and the transformation of the global governance system", he said.

The year 2024 marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia.

In his message to Putin, Xi said the past year was "a new significant milestone in the bilateral relationship".

In a look back at the extraordinary journey of the bilateral relationship in the past 75 years, Xi said that "China-Russia relations have grown more mature and stable".

China and Russia "always move forward hand in hand along the right path of non-alliance, non-confrontation, and not targeting any third party" in face of accelerating transformation unseen in a century and a volatile international landscape, Xi noted.

Over the past year, practical cooperation in various fields has yielded tangible outcomes, such as the completion of the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline. The successful launch of the China-Russia Years of Culture has fostered a closer bond between the two peoples, Xi said.

China and Russia also support each other as they chair the presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS mechanism respectively. In doing so, they "contribute significantly to solidarity and cooperation among the Global South", Xi said.