Xi meets Putin via the video link on Friday

China and Russia should strengthen strategic coordination to bring more benefits to the two peoples and inject more stability into the world, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin via video link on Friday.

Xi stressed that both sides should further make good use of existing mechanisms to push for progress in cooperation on economy, trade, energy, finance and agriculture.

China is ready to resume normal cross-border travel with Russia and other countries in an orderly manner, Xi said.

China is ready to work with Russia and all progressive forces in the world that stand against hegemonism and power politics to jointly oppose unilateralism, protectionism and bullying, and to firmly safeguard the sovereignty, security, and development interests of the two countries, as well as international equity and justice, Xi said.

Putin said that in the current complex and severe international situation, Russia-China relations have maintained a sound momentum of development, witnessing steady cooperation progress in various fields, including energy, agriculture, transportation, infrastructure, sports and people-to-people exchanges.

The resilience, maturity and stability of Russia-China ties have been enhanced further, Putin said, adding that the significance of strategic coordination between the two countries has become more prominent and that the bilateral relations can serve as a model for relations between major countries in the 21st century.

Russia is willing to continue close coordination with China on multilateral platforms including the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS and the Group of 20, Putin said.