China, Russia vow to jointly uphold security

China is willing to work with Russia to make new contributions to maintaining global and regional security and stability, State Councilor and Defense Minister Li Shangfu said on Sunday while meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During the meeting, Putin asked Li to convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to President Xi Jinping, and recalled Xi's visit to Russia last month, which Putin said made fruitful achievements.

Putin said that during Xi's visit, they charted the course for the development of Russia-China relations in the new era, and agreed to further strengthen strategic coordination between the two countries and deepen concrete cooperation in fields including the economy, culture and education.

He highlighted military cooperation, which he said plays an important role in bilateral relations, expressing hope that the two militaries will enhance cooperation in joint training, professional exchanges and other fields, and that strategic mutual trust between the two countries will continue to deepen.

Li, whose Russia visit is his first overseas trip since taking office as China's defense minister in March, conveyed Xi's cordial greetings and best wishes to Putin.

Li said that the two heads of state steer the development of China-Russia relations and that the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has been continuously deepened, noting that military mutual trust between the two nations has been increasingly consolidated with substantial progress in cooperation.

China is willing to work with Russia to fully implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, further reinforce strategic communication between the two militaries and bolster multilateral coordination and cooperation in order to make new contributions to upholding security and stability both globally and regionally, said Li.

In late March, President Xi made a three-day state visit to Russia, during which he said that consolidating and developing long-term good-neighborly and friendly relations with Russia is China's strategic choice and conforms to the prevailing trend of the times.

Regarding military cooperation, China and Russia will regularly organize joint maritime and air patrols, exercises and training, strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the two militaries, including those under existing bilateral mechanisms, and further deepen military mutual trust, according to a joint statement signed by the two presidents during the visit.