Xi meets with Russian defense minister

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with visiting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Beijing.

Shoigu conveyed Russian President Vladimir Putin's greetings to Xi while Xi expressed his thanks and asked Shoigu to convey his greetings and wishes to Putin.

Xi said that China-Russia relations have continued to maintain a high-level development and political mutual trust has reached the highest level since the beginning of this year.

"I have met with President Putin three times in the past five months, which embodied the high-level of China-Russia relationship and its distinctiveness," Xi said.