China's Xi says chose Russia for 1st visit after reelection, just as he did 10 years ago

MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) - Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that he has chosen Russia for the first visit after his reelection, just as he did ten years ago, because Russia and China are good neighbors.

Exactly ten years ago, when Xi first took office as president of China, he chose Russia as the country to go on his first visit abroad, the Chinese president said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. "And to this day, these pictures are well kept in my heart," he said.

"The Chinese side pays great attention to the development of the Chinese-Russian relationship because there is certain historical logic to this, because we and you are the largest neighboring countries, we and you are partners of comprehensive strategic cooperation, and it is exactly this status that determines that there must be a close relationship between our countries," Xi said.