Putin, Xi hail exemplary relations between Russia, China

TIES between Russia and China are a “model” and an “example” of bilateral cooperation, the leaders of the two countries said on Monday.

In an online meeting on the 20th anniversary of the 2001 Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship, the two leaders agreed to extend the pact for another five years.

“The treaty has indeed become a fundamental international legal act that has largely determined the current state of Russian-Chinese relations,” Putin said in his opening remarks.

“It has absorbed the centuries-old positive experience of developing relations between our states, fully reflected the deep historical traditions of good-neighborliness and friendship between the Russian and Chinese peoples.”

The treaty, he added, “cements the absence of mutual territorial claims and therefore the common border becomes a belt of eternal peace and friendship.”

“Following the letter and spirit of the treaty, we managed to bring Russian-Chinese relations to an unprecedented height, to make them