BEIJING, October 18. /TASS/. Beijing is ready to work together with Russia to give more substance to bilateral cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping said during expanded talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing.

"We are ready to work together with our Russian partners, clearly understanding the historical trend, following the spirit of global development and constantly giving more substance to bilateral cooperation, which is necessary in a new era for the sake of development and prosperity," the Chinese leader said, adding that next year would mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Xi Jinping pointed out that Putin and he had held 42 meetings in the previous ten years, building good business relations and a strong friendship. The Chinese president noted that China was ready to cooperate with Russia "in order to maintain international honesty and fairness and contribute to the overall global development."

The Putin-led Russian delegation includes two deputy prime ministers, Alexander Novak and Dmitry Chernyshenko, as well as the interior minister, the finance minister, the minister of economic development, the minister for the development of the Far East and Arctic, the heads of the Central Bank and several other agencies, along with Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, Sberbank CEO Herman Gref and VTB CEO Andrey Kostin.