BEIJING, October 15. /TASS/. China is ready to deepen and expand military ties with Russia and maintain close high-level exchanges between the two countries, Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, said at a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov in Beijing.

"Using the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries as a new starting point, we are ready to work with Russia to continuously strengthen and develop <...> Chinese-Russian relations," he said. "We hope that both sides will work together to implement the important consensus of the heads of state, maintain close high-level exchanges, deepen and expand military relations between the two countries, and protect their own interests in national sovereignty, security and development," he added.

"In recent years, China-Russia relations have reached the highest level in history and continue to develop at a healthy and stable pace, which is mainly due to the strategic leadership and personal involvement of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin," he said.

Zhang Youxia also pointed out that the two sides "will work together to maintain international cooperation, regional peace and stability."