The recent meeting between President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow has been expected to enhance the economic and cultural relation between two of the world’s most powerful countries, as the two leaders announced on May 8 the holding of the “Year of China-Russia media exchange” from 2016 to 2017.
The People's Daily said that the exchange would boost bilateral people-to-people communications between the nations.
"We stand ready to deepen the traditional friendship with the Russian people, promote the docking of our strategies of development and chart the future course for our friendly cooperation," said Chinese President Xi Jinping during his meeting with Putin in Moscow.
Putin welcomed the plan and praised the strategic partnership between the two countries, which he noted has produced productive results in various fields and at different levels
The report said that Xi also met with 18 Russian veterans who fought in Northeast China during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45) and in Russia's Great Patriotic War, as well as Russian experts who had provided assistance to the People's Republic of China during its early years.
The Chinese leader extoled the great contributions of the veterans in the success of China's military campaigns and in the World Anti-Fascist War.
In April, Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov awarded 31 Chinese veterans with medals for their contribution to the Great Patriotic War.
The report said that several memorial activities were also held in China where hundreds of college students in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, visited the Nanjing Aviation Martyrs Memorial Museum of Chinese People's Anti-Japanese War to honor Nezhdanov, a Soviet aviator who was the first Soviet pilot to die in China fighting the Japanese.
According to the report, regular visits and exchanges between China and Russia have occurred since 2000. After coming into power, President Xi first visited Russia and more than 10 meetings have been held between the leaders of the two countries, the report added.
Russia also became one of the AIIB founding members and a supporter of China's "Belt and Road" initiatives, the report said.
The report furthered that the regular visits and exchange mechanisms of the two countries have helped enhance bilateral ties, especially in the fields of education, tourism and business. The two countries have also successfully held series of events, such as "country year," "year of languages" and "tourism year."
Last year, the "Sino-Russian Youth Friendship Exchange Year" was launched, featuring several activities aimed at improving relations and closer ties between the two countries.
The establishment of cultural centers between the two countries is seen as a new platform to promote greater mutual understanding. According to the report, more than 20 Confucius institutes and Chinese classrooms in Russia contribute to the enhancement of their friendship and understanding.
According to a survey released by Russia's Public Opinion Foundation on May 6, Wednesday, a day before Xi' visit, more than three-fourths of Russians see China as a friendly country, indicating that exchanges between the two countries produce positive results.