Moscow, Russia - May 8, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Kremlin
2. Chinese President Xi Jinping (L), Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) entering meeting hall
3. National flags of China, Russia
4. Various of Xi, Putin holding small-group talks, officials of two sides

Moscow, Russia - Recent (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
5. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vladimir Zakharov, former Deputy Secretary-General, Shanghai Cooperation Organization:
"We need to open the Russian market more widely -- not just in the energy and resources sectors, but also in technology. I hope both sides can pursue mutually beneficial cooperation. China is sharing its world-class innovative technologies with the world."

Moscow, Russia - May 7, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. National flags of China, Russia

Moscow, Russia - May 8, 2025 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. National flags of China, Russia

Moscow, Russia - Recent (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mikhail Goryanoy, Chairman, Council of Russian Entrepreneurs of Northern China:
"The integration of cooperation, this is the key to success, this is a sustainable future plan, so not division, and not putting one above another. This is exactly why all the other BRICS countries are invited and introduced into various programs where they can participate. The foundation of this groundwork has been laid exactly by China and Russia as an example of two countries cooperating on so many various levels."

FILE: Beijing, China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of Tian'anmen Rostrum, Chinese national flag, traffic

Moscow, Russia - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
9. Various of traffic, Kremlin

Experts anticipate closer cooperation between China and Russia after the two heads of state signed a joint statement to deepen bilateral ties.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a joint statement on further deepening the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

China and Russia are each other's important trade partner, and the two sides agree that the bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation has strongly contributed to the improvement of the well-being of the two peoples, the statement said.

In efforts to further enhance the cooperation, China and Russia agree to push for a stable expansion of two-way trade with an optimized structure through lifting the share of high-tech products and fostering innovative forms of e-commerce, among other efforts.

Xi arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for a state visit to Russia, where he is attending celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War, at Putin's invitation.

Vladimir Zakharov, former deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), praised the joint statement and emphasized the potential for expanding bilateral cooperation into broader areas, including the technology sector.

"We need to open the Russian market more widely -- not just in the energy and resources sectors, but also in technology. I hope both sides can pursue mutually beneficial cooperation. China is sharing its world-class innovative technologies with the world," said Vladimir Zakharov.

Mikhail Goryanoy, chairman of the Council of Russian Entrepreneurs of Northern China, emphasized the exemplary cooperation between China and Russia within multilateral platforms, such as the BRICS mechanism.

"The integration of cooperation, this is the key to success, this is a sustainable future plan, so not division, and not putting one above another. This is exactly why all the other BRICS countries are invited and introduced into various programs where they can participate. The foundation of this groundwork has been laid exactly by China and Russia as an example of two countries cooperating on so many various levels," he said.

China is Russia's largest trading partner, with a volume of more than 200 billion U.S. dollars last year.