BEIJING, September 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are in close strategic communication, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a briefing, commenting on Putin’s anticipated visit to Beijing in October.

"The leaders of China and Russia maintain close strategic interaction," the diplomat said. She did not specify the exact dates of Putin’s visit to China, saying that she did not yet have the necessary information which can be made public.

On Tuesday, at Russian-Chinese strategic security consultations, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said that the two leaders may hold talks in Beijing in October. China’s delegation at the consultations was led by Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister and director of the Foreign Affairs Commission Office of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee.

In July, Andrey Denisov, deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs and Russia’s former Ambassador to China (2013-2022), told a TASS correspondent that the Chinese side was getting ready for a visit by the Russian president in October in order for him to participate in the Third Belt and Road Forum.

The Belt and Road Initiative, a concept proposed by Xi in 2013, aims to symbolically recreate the ancient Silk Road. The goal is for China to access markets in Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa and other regions, as well as to intensify international trade and investment projects involving a large number of nations along with the use of Chinese and foreign capital. Over 150 countries and international organizations have already joined the initiative.