Premier Li Keqiang met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on June 8.

Putin is on a state visit to China and will attend the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit, which is scheduled for June 9 to 10 in Qingdao, a coastal city in East China’s Shandong province.

Premier Li said China and Russia are each other’s biggest neighbor, and the healthy and stable development of bilateral ties is of great importance to both and the world at large.

He added that the recent meeting between President Xi Jinping and Putin has injected fresh momentum into the ties.

China is willing to strengthen coordination of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Eurasian Economic Union, expand bilateral trade, promote energy cooperation in such areas as oil and gas, extend industrial chains, and enhance cooperation in areas including science, technology, aviation and finance to lift the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership to a new stage, according to Premier Li.

Putin said currently the China-Russia relationship is marked by high-level performance, rapid development in economic and trade cooperation, and continuously expanded cooperation in other new areas.

He said Russia would like to join hands with China to strengthen dovetailing development strategies, promote pragmatic cooperation in various areas, improve people-to-people exchanges, and better coordinate with China under the SCO and other multilateral mechanisms, to achieve fruitful results in bilateral relations and cooperation.