MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered condolences to Chinese President Xi Jinping over the death of former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin. The message was uploaded to the Kremlin website on Wednesday.

"Please accept our deepest condolences over the death of the former Chairman of the People's Republic of China and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Jiang Zemin. A crucial period in China's modern history and its great achievements in economic and social development, as well as the strengthening of international positions, are inseparably linked with the name of this outstanding statesman," the message reads.

Putin described the agreement on good neighborliness that Jiang Zemin and he signed in 2001 as the basis for a qualitative build-up of all ties between Russia and China. "As a sincere friend of our country, Jiang Zemin made an invaluable contribution to the development of Russian-Chinese relations and to bringing them to a level of trust, partnership and strategic interaction. The Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, which we signed with him in 2001, laid the basis for the qualitative progress of bilateral relations on all tracks," he said.

Putin stressed that "the bright memory of such an authoritative politician and wonderful person" would forever live on in his heart.

"Please convey the words of my most sincere sympathy to the family and friends of the deceased, as well as to the friendly people of China," he added.

Jiang Zemin, who suffered from leukemia and functional failure of internal organs, died in Shanghai on November 30, 2022 at 12:13 local time, China Central Television said earlier.

Jiang served as the General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee from June 1989 to November 2002. From 1993 to 2003 he was China’s president.