President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin respectively sent on Monday congratulatory letters to the third China-Russia Energy Business Forum.

In his message, Xi pointed out that since the beginning of this year, the two sides, with focus on jointly celebrating the 20th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, have pushed forward their comprehensive strategic coordination and all-round practical cooperation and achieved new and fruitful results.

Noting that energy cooperation is an important direction of bilateral practical cooperation, Xi said that the two sides have overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, achieved growth in energy trade against downward pressure, advanced their major cooperation projects smoothly, and continuously explored new areas and ways of cooperation.

The remarkable achievements in bilateral energy cooperation have demonstrated the broad potential of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, Xi said.

China, he said, is ready to work with Russia to forge a closer partnership for energy cooperation, and jointly safeguard energy security and tackle the challenge of global climate change.

In his message, Putin said that now the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era is at an unprecedentedly high level.

Energy cooperation between the two countries, as an important part of bilateral relations, has made positive progress in recent years, Putin said.

He noted that cross-border oil and gas pipelines between the two countries have been operating stably, energy trade expanding steadily, and a number of major projects advancing smoothly, such as the development of liquefied natural gas in the Arctic region and the joint construction of nuclear power units.

Putin said he hopes that the enterprises of the two sides will strengthen coordination, explore new cooperation areas like energy informatization and green energy, and further enrich China-Russia energy cooperation.