SHANGHAI, November 16. /TASS/. Relations between Russia and China are immune to outside influence and are not directed against any third party, a senior Chinese diplomat said at the ongoing Russian-Chinese academic conference in Shanghai.

"Sino-Russian relations have intrinsic value, they are not oriented toward a third party and are not subject to external influence," Chen Hao, an adviser to the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Europe and Central Asia Department, said.

He pointed out that Beijing and Moscow will continue to uphold those principles that help improve global governance for common development. "China-Russia relations have withstood the challenges of the changing world and are being maintained in the right direction. Both sides are developing relations on mutually beneficial terms, strengthening mutual trust as well as political and strategic ties," he said, adding that Russia and China are also jointly promoting multipolarity in the world as well as the democratization of international relations.

Leading experts from Russia and China gathered in Shanghai on Thursday for an academic conference titled "Crisis and Global Transformation: China and Russia Facing the Challenges of a Changing World Order" organized jointly by the Valdai International Discussion Club and the East China Pedagogical University. Such conferences have been regularly taking place since 2010. This year's conference was held in person for the first time in the past four years after a forced hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions.