Chinese President Xi Jinping called for efforts to strengthen the strategic partnership in energy between China and Russia during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Friday.

The two sides should steadily advance major oil and gas cooperation projects and strengthen joint innovations in major energy technologies, said Xi.

He also noted that both sides should support each other in ensuring energy security.

China-Russia energy cooperation has advanced over the years. In 2011 and 2018, the first and second lines of China-Russia crude oil pipelines were successively put into commercial operation. These lines have since enabled a capacity of 30 million tonnes of crude oil to be imported into China each year.

In 2019, the China–Russia East-Route natural gas pipeline went into operation, setting a new milestone for energy cooperation between the two countries.

The two countries have also cooperated closely in nuclear energy. In May last year, Xi and Putin witnessed the groundbreaking ceremony of a bilateral nuclear energy cooperation project, Tianwan nuclear power plant and Xudapu nuclear power plant.

Putin paid his first visit this year to China on Friday to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, nearly three years since his last visit to the country.

In their meeting before the ceremony, the two heads of state vowed to turn mutual trust between the two countries into cooperation in all fields.

Read more: China, Russia vow to turn mutual trust into cooperation in various fields