SHANGHAI, May 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China is aimed at expanding the potential of bilateral cooperation in the global arena, a Chinese expert told TASS.

"Putin’s visit to China was linked with a number of traditional problems in the area of cooperation, with the desire to remove cooperation barriers, raise the level of bilateral cooperation and expand the two countries’ potential in the area of international cooperation," said Sun Qi, executive director of the Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

According to the expert, the visit is historically significant. He also noted the fact that the Russian leader was accompanied by new members of the cabinet.

Sun recalled that at a news conference with Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined five basic principles of cooperation between the two countries. "Whereas the first three principles concern primarily bilateral relations, the last two can be seen as a concentrated reflection of the global influence and role of relations between such great powers as China and Russia," he said.

As for the Ukrainian conflict, the expert recalled Putin’s interview with the Xinhua agency ahead of his visit to China, where the Russian leader stressed that Russia had never refused from talks. "Obviously, after the two rounds of talks with the Chinese leader yesterday, the Russian side reiterated this information. It was about demonstrating to the United States and the West that Russia is ready for talks but there is a condition for talks with Russia and this condition implies achieving a military task and Russia hopes to do this," the expert said.

Putin paid a state visit to China on May 16 and 17. This was his first foreign visit after being re-elected to his fifth presidential term. On Thursday, Putin held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing. The two leaders discussed the entire spectrum of Russian-Chinese cooperation, with special focus put on economic issues, and signed a joint statement.