China hailed for advancing APEC cooperation: spokesman

China's positive progress in advancing cooperation within the framework of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has been hailed by delegates attending the second APEC Senior Officials' Meeting and Related Meetings (SOM2) in Shanghai, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

The SOM2 brought together high-level officials from member economies to review APEC cooperation in the first half of this year, as well as make preparations for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and other events throughout the rest of the year.

"The second APEC Senior Officials' Meeting and Related Meetings were held in Shanghai from May 11 to 19. Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu attended and addressed the opening session of the Senior Officials' Meeting," said Guo Jiakun, the spokesman, at a regular briefing in Beijing.

"During the SOM2, nearly 40 meetings and activities were held, covering trade and investment, economic and technological cooperation, women, telecommunication, food security and other areas. More than 1,000 representatives from member economies, the APEC Secretariat, APEC observers and the APEC Business Advisory Council participated in the meetings. They spoke highly of the positive progress of APEC cooperation since China took on the host of APEC, and reaffirmed their continued support for China in hosting APEC meetings, and their readiness to jointly work for fruitful outcomes in the APEC 'China Year,'" said the spokesman.

China hailed for advancing APEC cooperation: spokesman

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a tea chat on Wednesday night at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Xi said that over the years, he and Putin have maintained frequent and close exchanges, and jointly created a new model of major-country relations featuring mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation, injecting the much-needed stability into a changing and turbulent world.

Noting that the two sides have reached new important consensus on promoting the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, Xi expressed the confidence that with unremitting efforts from both sides, China-Russia relations will surely build on the momentum of high-quality development and scale new heights.

Hailing the visit as pragmatic, efficient and fruitful, Putin said he and Xi have reviewed the development of Russia-China relations, held in-depth exchanges of views on a wide range of issues, and charted the course for future cooperation, which will help ensure robust momentum for the bilateral relationship.

Russia looks forward to maintaining close communication with China, strengthening strategic coordination, and making new contributions to world peace and prosperity through the certainty and stability of Russia-China relations, Putin said.

Xi, Putin have tea chat in Beijing