President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shake hands during their meeting at the Ornate St George Hall in the gilded Kremlin in Moscow yesterday. Xi urged Russia to work closer with China on foreign policy matters in order to better protect their joint security and interests. Putin said Russian-Chinese relations are a very important factor in world politics.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Moscow for his first foreign trip, urged Russia to work closely with China to strengthen mutual political support and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development.
Xi, who became president last week, was greeted by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a grandiose reception that saw guards on horseback for the first time welcoming a foreign leader.
Putin greeted Xi with a firm handshake and a grin. The two leaders greeted members of official delegations in the ornate St George Hall before sitting down for talks.
"Russian-Chinese relations are a very important factor in world politics," Putin said at the start of talks during which they sat in gold-trimmed chairs.
"I am certain your visit will give Russian-Chinese ties a new and powerful impulse," he added.
Xi said in turn that the relations between the two countries are at the best ever.
The Chinese president told Putin: "I get the impression that you and I always treat each other with an open soul, our characters are alike. We always speak in a good manner, you and I are good friends."
Putin said: "We are working together, helping to shape a new, more just world order, ensure peace and security, defend basic principles of international law."
He added that Russia and China have set an example of a "balanced and pragmatic approach" to international crises.
Xi told Putin that he expects Russia to "strengthen coordination and interaction in tackling international and regional issues to ensure our common strategic security."
"We must make the emphasis on further increasing our mutual political support and resolutely back each other's efforts to protect its sovereignty, security and development interests," Xi said.
Xi and Putin later oversaw the signing of a raft of energy and other agreements.
Xi hailed "breakthrough agreements" and said he and Putin had agreed on a deal that will see Russia, the world's largest energy producer, increase oil supplies to China, the world's biggest energy consumer.
"Russian-Chinese energy cooperation is all-encompassing, full-sized and comprehensive," Xi said after talks.
"We can already say this is a historic visit with positive results," Putin added after he and Xi presided over the signing of an agreement between Russian oil company Rosneft and China's state-owned CNPC.
Rosneft chief Igor Sechin told reporters the agreement would see Russia gradually raise supplies over the next 25 years from their current level of 15 million tons. At their peak the supplies are tipped to increase by 31 million tons a year.
As part of the deal, Rosneft is to receive a US$2.0 billion loan from China, he said, noting that a finalized accord would be signed at a later stage.
Russia, which wants to diversify its energy markets away from Europe, also needs to finalize a potentially huge gas deal with China but a commercial contract has so far proved elusive as talks have become mired in pricing disputes.
Gazprom chief Alexei Miller told reporters that a legally binding document would be signed in June, and added that the company expected to sign the final contract by year's end.
In the Kremlin, Gazprom signed a preliminary agreement paving the way for the future 30-year contract. According to the deal, Russia will begin sending gas to China in 2018, before increasing those supplies to up to 60 billion cubic meters.
Later in the day, Xi and Putin attended the opening ceremony of the "Tourism Year of China" in Russia.
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