Putin welcomes China's Xi for landmark talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's new leader Xi Jinping are to hold landmark talks Friday in the hope of further cementing the two countries' partnership with a range of strategic agreements.

The Chinese leader chose Russia for his first trip abroad after China this month completed a power handover which will see Xi preside over the world's second-largest economy for the next decade.

"China and Russia are the main and most important strategic partners," Xi said in an interview with Russian media, adding that he was looking forward to his meeting with Putin.

"In many ways we speak a common language," he said on the eve of his Moscow trip.

Putin for his part praised the two countries' cooperation to promote "a more just world order."

Dmitry Trenin, head of the Carnegie Moscow Centre, said China would also seek to strengthen overall relations to boost its international standing.

China's "ties with the United States are complicated, there is a flare-up in relations with Japan, things with India are not easy," he told AFP. "They will benefit from sending the world a signal about good, strong ties with Russia."

Russia and China are also members of the BRICS grouping of emerging economies, which also includes Brazil, India and South Africa and which will hold a summit in South Africa next week.