Leaders exchange New Year greetings, pledge to boost ties

China and Russia vowed to deepen cooperation and further bilateral relations to deliver more benefits to their peoples as President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin exchanged New Year greetings on Saturday.

In his message, Xi said that in the extraordinary year of 2022, the China-Russia relationship has maintained a momentum of sound development in the face of a rapidly evolving international situation and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking of bilateral cooperation in trade and economy in the past year, Xi said that steady progress has been made with new achievements in areas such as energy, investment and connectivity, giving an impetus to the common development of both countries.

Last year, the two nations officially launched the China-Russia Years of Sports Exchanges, which further helped deepen mutual understanding and the traditional friendship between the Chinese and Russian people, Xi said.

Saying that the China-Russia relationship will embrace new opportunities for development in the new year, Xi expressed his willingness to maintain close exchanges with Putin, and guide the two countries to deepen comprehensive strategic coordination and practical cooperation in various fields.

In his message, Putin said the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination had shown a strong momentum of development in the past year and withstood the test of external challenges.

Last year, political dialogue between the two countries had a wide-ranging agenda, bilateral trade volume reached a record high and major cross-border transportation infrastructure projects were completed, he said.

The Russian president said he believes that the two sides will elevate their cooperation to a new and higher level through joint efforts so as to bring benefits to their peoples.

Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also exchanged New Year greetings on the same day.