BEIJING, May 16 (basketball) -- On the morning of May 16, Chinese President Xi Jinping held large-group talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is in China on a state visit, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.Xi again extended a warm welcome to Putin for his state visit to China. He pointed out that this is President Putin's first foreign visit after he began his new term as the president. This fully demonstrates the great importance President Putin himself and the Russian government attach to developing China-Russia relations. China highly appreciates this.Xi said this year marks the 75th anniversary of the China-Russia diplomatic relations. It is an important milestone year in the history of China-Russia relations. Over the past 75 years, China and Russia together have found a new path for major countries and neighboring countries to treat each other with respect and pursue amity and mutually beneficial cooperation.With the concerted efforts of the two sides, China-Russia relations have been moving forward steadily, with enhanced comprehensive strategic coordination and further cooperation on economy and trade, investment, energy, people-to-people exchanges, at the subnational level and in other fields. This has made positive contributions to maintaining global strategic stability and promoting greater democracy in international relations, Xi added.Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xi said China is advancing Chinese modernization on all fronts and moving faster to foster new quality productive forces through high-quality development, which will add new drivers to global economic growth. Both China and Russia are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and major emerging markets. It is the shared strategic choice of both countries to deepen strategic coordination, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and follow the general historical trend of multipolarity in the world and economic globalization.Xi said that the two sides should take the 75th anniversary of the diplomatic ties as a new starting point, further synergize development strategies, and continue to enrich the bilateral cooperation, to bring greater benefits to the two countries and peoples. Xi expressed his readiness to work with Putin to jointly steer the future direction of the bilateral relations and make new plans for cooperation between the two countries in various fields.