BEIJING, July 11. /TASS/. Chinese President Xi Jinping said that Beijing was getting ready to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin in October 2023, during a meeting with Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, or upper house of parliament.

As 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, "During the meeting with Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko, Chairman Xi Jinping said that the Chinese side was getting ready for a visit by the Russian president in October in order to participate in the Third Belt and Road Forum."

In March, Xi was in Russia on a state visit during which he invited Putin to China.

Matviyenko is on a visit to China from July 9-12. She met with chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China Zhao Leji and later held a meeting with Xi.