BEIJING, March 18. /TASS/. Chinese President Xi Jinping has congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election as Russia’s head of state, China’s Central Television has said.

"Your re-election demonstrates to the full extent that you are supported by the Russian people," reads the Chinese leader's message, cited by the TV.

Russia’s presidential election was held for the first time over three days from March 15 to 17. Remote electronic voting, used for the first time, too, was available in about a third of the country's regions. According to the Central Election Commission, after the processing of 99.43% of the local election commissions’ reports the incumbent head of state, Vladimir Putin, is in the lead with 87.32% of the votes.