BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday exchanged congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic ties.

In his congratulatory message, Xi said that the China-Russia relationship has achieved the highest level among major-country relations in terms of mutual trust, coordination and strategic value, and has made important contributions to maintaining world peace, stability and development.

Putin, for his part, said that his country was the first in the world to recognize the People's Republic of China (PRC) and to immediately establish the closest cooperative relationship with the PRC. The Russia-China relationship has successfully stood the test of time, he said.