BEIJING, July 6. /TASS/. Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin constantly maintain close contacts in order to bolster the Chinese-Russian comprehensive strategic partnership despite the pandemic, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday.

"After the pandemic began, the leaders of China and the Russian Federation continued to maintain close contacts in various formats," he said at a briefing, responding to a request to comment on information that Xi Jinping allegedly refused to visit Moscow over the global spread of the coronavirus infection. "China and Russia will continue to interact at all levels for the sake of the uninterrupted development of Chinese-Russian comprehensive partnership relations," he added.

According to the diplomat, Beijing and Moscow are successfully strengthening the bilateral relations. "China and Russia maintain effective dialogue in all the directions of bilateral cooperation," he concluded.

Earlier, Japanese media outlets reported that Xi Jinping allegedly rejected Putin’s invitation to visit Russia over the coronavirus pandemic. It was noted that the invitation was made during the June 15 conversation of the two leaders. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov asserted that this information was not true.