Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremony of the 8th China-Russia Expo in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Friday.

Han read out Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the expo and made a speech at the opening ceremony.

Han said that President Xi and President Putin met in Beijing on Thursday and jointly drew a new vision and blueprint for the development of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic relations, Han said, noting that China and Russia have deepened political mutual trust and achieved fruitful economic and trade cooperation.

In 2023, the trade volume between China and Russia reached a record $240.1 billion, and China has been Russia's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years. The scale of two-way investment continues to grow, and cooperation on major projects in energy, chemical industry, aerospace and connectivity has made steady progress, said Han.

He noted that mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Russia has not only benefited the two countries and peoples, but also injected new impetus into the development of bilateral relations.

China is willing to work with Russia to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, enhance mutual trust, deepen cooperation and seize opportunities, to add impetus to the high-quality development of bilateral relations, Han said.

In his speech, Putin said he had a fruitful meeting with President Xi in Beijing and reached important consensus for the development of bilateral relations and the expansion of practical cooperation.

Noting that Russia cherishes the tradition of friendly cooperation with China, Putin expressed the hope that the two sides will tap the potential and actively leverage the role of the expo to push for new progress in bilateral cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, investment, energy, industry, high and new technology, cross-border transportation, tourism, agriculture and local affairs, to bring more benefits to the two peoples.

After the opening ceremony, Han met with Putin.

Han said China-Russia cooperation has enjoyed a sound momentum in recent years.

The Belt and Road Initiative has been further aligned with the Eurasian Economic Union, and a number of major projects have been smoothly advanced, Han said, adding that the China-Russia Expo was a beautiful "business card" of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

It is believed that with the joint efforts of the two sides, bilateral cooperation will surely achieve more results, benefit the two peoples and contribute to world development and progress, Han said.

For his part, Putin called on the two sides to closely coordinate and cooperate, strengthen practical cooperation in various fields, further promote local cooperation between Russia's far east and China's northeast region, and push for better development of bilateral relations.

Han and Putin then toured the exhibition hall together, listened to the introduction of cooperation between the two countries, and interacted with the heads of participating institutions.