BEIJING, December 17. /TASS/. The recent virtual summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping has reaffirmed bilateral political solidarity to bolster Russian-Chinese relations, Zhou Weidi, professor and vice dean of the School of Economics and Business Administration with the Central China Normal University (Wuhan), told TASS on Friday.

"During this meeting, Xi and Putin expressed their mutual expectations about the further strengthening of Sino-Russian relations both in the field of politics and economics. The parties reached a mutual understanding of peaceful and equitable development. They reaffirmed that it is necessary [for Moscow and Beijing] to scale up bilateral cooperation," he explained.

The expert recalled that earlier Xi had already referred to the Russian leader as a "good friend", which, according to Zhou Weidi, means "extremely strong political trust." "The fact that Putin intends to visit the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games testifies to the mutual political trust," he stressed.

According to the scholar, regular contacts between the Russian and Chinese presidents make it possible for both countries to quickly coordinate efforts on the international stage, and "take concerted steps to strengthen the world order, while jointly supporting global security."

On December 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, held a virtual summit. As Russian Presidential Aide for International Affairs Yury Ushakov told journalists, the conversation lasted close to an hour and a half. According to him, the leaders focused on all top priority issues ranging from security guarantees for Moscow in Europe to the creation of new alliances in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, they discussed bilateral relations and future meetings, one of which may take place in February 2022.