Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 11, 2024. At the invitation of Viacheslav Volodin, chairman of the Russian parliament's lower house, the State Duma, and Chairwoman of Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Russia from July 9 to 13. [Xinhua/Liu Weibing]

ST. PETERSBURG -- At the invitation of Viacheslav Volodin, chairman of the Russian parliament's lower house, the State Duma, and Chairwoman of Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, China's top legislator Zhao Leji paid an official goodwill visit to Russia from July 9 to 13.

During the visit, Zhao, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, and held talks with Matviyenko and Volodin respectively in Moscow. He also attended the 9th meeting of the China-Russia committee for parliamentary cooperation in Moscow on Wednesday.

Zhao conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping's cordial greetings and good wishes to President Putin.

Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Russia, Zhao said under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era has developed at a high level and in high quality, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples.

Recalling that a few days ago, Xi and Putin met again in Astana and reached a series of strategic consensus, Zhao said that the NPC of China is willing to work with the Russian Federal Assembly to implement the important consensus of the two heads of state at the legislative level and contribute to consolidating political mutual trust, deepening practical cooperation and enhancing friendship between the two peoples.

Putin asked Zhao to convey his cordial greetings to Xi. He said he and Xi recently had a successful meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, during which they exchanged in-depth views on important issues of bilateral cooperation and reached important consensus.

The legislative bodies of Russia and China have always maintained a high level of cooperation, which helps to advance the priority issues of bilateral cooperation at the legislative level and create a favorable economic, cultural and legal environment for the achievement of various goals, Putin said.

He pointed out that strengthening the work of the Russia-China committee for parliamentary cooperation is not only conducive to exchange of experience, mutual learning and understanding, and promotion of cooperation at the legislative and sub-national levels and in other fields between the two countries, but is also conducive to the enhancement of friendship between the two peoples.

In talks with Matviyenko and Volodin, Zhao said that the strategic guidance of the two heads of state is the biggest political advantage of China-Russia relations.

The two sides should follow the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, maintain strategic focus, strengthen confidence in their path, and firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, he said.

Over the years, the NPC of China has maintained close exchanges and cooperation with the Federation Council and the State Duma of Russia, constantly enriching the connotation of bilateral strategic coordination, Zhao said, calling on the legislative bodies of the two sides to base themselves on their functions and responsibilities, make good use of mechanisms and platforms such as the China-Russia committee for parliamentary cooperation and the bilateral friendship group, deepen exchanges and cooperation at multiple levels, in multiple fields and through multiple channels, and learn from each other's legislative experience so as to provide a rule of law guarantee for practical cooperation.

The two sides should strengthen coordination and cooperation in multilateral platforms such as the BRICS Cooperation mechanism, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the SCO to jointly safeguard international equity and justice, he added.

For her part, Matviyenko said that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era has been operating at a high level, adding that developing relations with China is widely recognized and supported by the Russian society.

She called on the legislatures of the two countries to strengthen legislative cooperation, promote exchanges between legislatures at the sub-national level, young lawmakers and deputies to the NPC, and promote bilateral cooperation in various fields such as economy, trade and people-to-people exchanges.

Volodin said that different parties in the Russian State Duma are highly consistent in developing relations with China. Russia firmly abides by the one-China principle and opposes any external interference in China's internal affairs, he added.

He called on the two countries to innovate and improve the new model of cooperation between the legislative bodies and continuously upgrade the level of cooperation.

When addressing the 9th meeting of the China-Russia committee for parliamentary cooperation, Zhao said that the committee is an important platform for exchanges and cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries, which reflects the high level and particularity of China-Russia relations.

He urged the legislatures of the two countries to cement strategic coordination to serve the overall development of China-Russia relations, exchange governance experience to help their respective countries develop and revitalize, give full play to the functions of legislative bodies to promote practical cooperation through the rule of law, carry forward traditional friendship to consolidate the social and public support for state-to-state relations, and enhance multilateral coordination to unite and strengthen the Global South at the legislature level.

During the visit, Zhao laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow.

Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Viacheslav Volodin, chairman of the Russian parliament's lower house, the State Duma, in Moscow, Russia, July 10, 2024. At the invitation of Volodin and Chairwoman of Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Russia from July 9 to 13. [Xinhua/Liu Weibing]

Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, delivers a speech while attending the 9th meeting of the China-Russia committee for parliamentary cooperation in Moscow, Russia, July 10, 2024. At the invitation of Viacheslav Volodin, chairman of the Russian parliament's lower house, the State Duma, and Chairwoman of Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Russia from July 9 to 13. [Xinhua/Zhang Ling]

Zhao Leji, chairman of China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Chairwoman of Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko in Moscow, Russia, July 9, 2024. At the invitation of Viacheslav Volodin, chairman of the Russian parliament's lower house, the State Duma, and Matviyenko, Zhao paid an official goodwill visit to Russia from July 9 to 13. [Xinhua/Zhang Ling]