China, Russia should carry forward traditional friendship, deepen strategic mutual trust: Xi

China and Russia should carry forward their traditional friendship and further deepen strategic mutual trust in a bid to steer the international order toward greater justice and equity, said Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday.

Xi made the remarks during a meeting with Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the Russian parliament's lower house, the State Duma, in Beijing.

"In May this year, I paid a state visit to Russia and attended the celebrations to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union. I had in-depth communication with President (Vladimir) Putin, charting a new blueprint for the development of China-Russia relations," said Xi.

"Next week, China will hold a grand parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. China and the Soviet Union, as the main battlefields in Asia and Europe in World War II, respectively, made great national sacrifices in fight against Japanese militarism and German fascist aggression, and contributed greatly to the victory of World War II. Both sides should carry forward their traditional friendship and further deepen strategic mutual trust so as to steer the international order toward greater justice and equity," said Xi.

For his part, Volodin highly commended the efforts made by Xi and his Russian counterpart Putin on strengthening bilateral ties.

"Honorable President Xi Jinping, the development of relationship between our two countries has greatly benefited from the efforts of both you and President Putin. As for the parliament, we are committed to providing legislative backing for decisions made at the head-of-state level. I would like to emphasize that, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, we stand ready to commemorate this event with the Chinese people, as it is our common victory," Volodin said.

Oil prices fell on Thursday.

The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery dropped 2.83 U.S. dollars, or 4.56 percent, to settle at 59.19 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery lost 2.76 dollars, or 4.15 percent, to settle at 63.76 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.