Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping engaged in a cordial and friendly hour-long telephone conversation, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said.
"Another telephone conversation between our president and Chinese President Xi Jinping has just ended. It was held in a warm, friendly atmosphere and lasted for exactly one hour," Ushakov said.
The leaders discussed over the phone energy cooperation between the two countries and the implementation of joint projects in this area.
"The countries' leaders expressed their satisfaction with progressing cooperation at other levels, including intergovernmental and interparliamentary dialogue. They reaffirmed their readiness to develop and intensify relations," Ushakov said.
Xi Jinping said that Beijing is ready to work jointly with Moscow toward boosting international multilateral cooperation.
"China actively supports Russia’s work as the BRICS chair in 2024 and is ready to deepen international multilateral cooperation with Russia," CCTV quoted Xi as saying.
According to the Chinese leader, Beijing is resolved to join efforts with Moscow to ensure genuine multipolarity and contribute to making it equal.
China and Russia will jointly promote "inclusive economic globalization and contribute to developing the global governance system in a fairer and more reasonable direction," Xi added.
The trade between the two countries has exceeded the target level of $200 billion earlier than expected and has now reached a record-high of $227.7 billion, the Kremlin aide shared.
"It was noted with satisfaction that the bilateral trade exceeded the $200 billion mark a year earlier than the target date set by the leaders and reached a record-high of $227.7 billion," the statement reads.
In two days, China will celebrate its biggest holiday - the New Year according to the lunar calendar, or, as it is called in China, the Spring Festival.
