MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. Beijing is planning to work on raising the level of its relations with Russia, China’s new Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui told reporters on Wednesday.

"We should open a new page. We will mark the anniversary [of bilateral relations] soon. In the future, we will cultivate our relations at a higher level," the ambassador said.

The envoy stressed that over 70 years of diplomatic relations, a solid foundation has been laid and Russia and China should further develop their cooperation on its basis.

New Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui arrived in Moscow on August 10. Zhang Hanhui served as China’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan from 2014 to 2018 and was Assistant Foreign Minister in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, he was appointed Vice Foreign Minister in charge of relations with European and Central Asian countries. The 55-year-old diplomat is fluent in Russian. He replaced Li Hui who had served as China’s Ambassador to Russia for ten years.