Beijing, Oct 2 (IANS) Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday exchanged congratulatory messages on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic ties.

In his congratulatory message, Xi said the China-Russia relationship has achieved the highest level among major-country relations in terms of mutual trust, coordination and strategic value, and has made important contributions to maintaining world peace, stability and development, Xinhua reported.

Putin, for his part, said his country was the first in the world to recognise the People's Republic of China (PRC) and to immediately establish the closest cooperative relationship with the PRC.

The Russia-China relationship has successfully stood the test of time, he said.

Looking back over the past 70 years, the China-Russia relationship has gone through a very extraordinary development path, and with the joint efforts by both sides, the relationship between the two countries has become an example for major countries and neighbouring countries in terms of good neighbourliness, friendship, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, Xi said.

Especially in recent years, Xi said, under the joint guidance of him and Putin, the two countries have constantly enhanced strategic mutual trust, extended firm political support to each other and carried out close communication and collaboration in international and regional affairs, and bilateral cooperation in various fields has achieved unprecedented development.

Xi recalled his state visit to Russia in June, when he and Putin jointly announced the upgrade of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, which opened a new history for the China-Russia relationship, with new vitality and broad prospects.

Xi stressed that he highly values the development of China-Russia ties, and is willing to work together with Putin to take the opportunity of the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties to unceasingly guide the China-Russia relationship for a new era towards more new achievements, and make greater contributions to world peace and development.

Xi wished the China-Russia relationship ever growing and the China-Russia friendship ever lasting.

Political dialogues at various levels between the two countries have been constantly reinforced and expanded, and their coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and BRICS, have been strengthened to jointly push for solutions to major international and regional issues, he said.

Putin said he believes that Russia and China will constantly strengthen their relations and cooperation in various fields to bring more benefits to their peoples and make contributions to security and stability in the Eurasian continent as well as the whole world.

On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Russian Prime Minster Dmitri Medvedev also exchanged congratulatory messages.

Li said in his message that the Chinese side highly values the China-Russia relationship and is willing to work together with the Russian side, taking the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations as a new starting point, to constantly deepen political mutual trust, unleash cooperation potentials in various fields, establish innovative cooperation models and strengthen coordination in international and regional affairs to further advance the China-Russia relationship for a new era, and enhance regional and world peace, stability and prosperity.

Medvedev said that the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has reached an unprecedented level, with major cooperation projects proceeding smoothly in various fields like energy, industry, transportation infrastructure, high technology and culture, and people-to-people exchanges continuing to expand.

He said he believes that through joint efforts, the two sides will inject new power to their comprehensive cooperation.

--IANS pgh/