Chinese, Russian presidents discuss expanding cooperation

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping praised their countries' growing ties.

This came at a video conference today where Putin said that Russia had become one of China's leading oil and gas suppliers.

The Russian president hailed the two countries relations and invited Xi to visit Moscow in the spring of 2023.

The Chinese leader echoed Putin's message of unity and expressed his pleasure in meeting him virtually at the year-end, which, he said, has become a good tradition between them.

"President Xi noted that under the guidance of both President Putin and himself, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has grown more mature and resilient, with the internal impetus and special value of bilateral cooperation further brought out," Xinhua reported.