Russia and China are committed to pursuing independent foreign policies and play stabilising roles on the international stage, Putin says.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is now speaking, following Chinese leader Xi Jinping's remarks.

Putin says Russia is prepared to continue supplying energy to China, noting that trade between the two countries is protected from external influence and negative trends in global markets.

He also said Russia is ready to continue uninterrupted oil and gas supplies to China.

Xi also says that both countries will step up cooperation in AI and tech innovation.

China and Russia should also firmly play the roles of "responsible great powers", to protect international justice and oppose "all unilateral bullying and actions that reverse history", says Xi, who has now concluded his remarks.

Xi tells the room that the two countries must remain strategic strongholds for each other. They will also maintain strategic communication and exchanges at all levels, he says.

Xi says that relations between China and Russia have continued to improve, reaching "the highest level of comprehensive strategic partnership".

The two countries have treated each other with mutual respect as equals, he adds, claiming that bilateral ties have reached a "new starting point".

Officials from China and Russia have signed a series of agreements, spanning the fields of trade, technology, intellectual property and scientific research.

The signing ceremony has now ended - and Xi is now speaking to the media.

Xi and Putin have just signed a joint statement on further strengthening strategic coordination between China and Russia, and "deepening good-neighbourly and friendly cooperation".

They are expected to now sign a further 20 documents on a range of other issues, including trade and tech cooperation agreements

Image source, Reuters

A signing ceremony with Putin and Xi has now kicked off, with the two expected to sign various agreements, including one further strengthening their "comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction".

Image source, China News Service

Earlier, we mentioned that Putin is due to meet a Chinese engineer he first met as a child during a state visit in 2000.

When Putin visited China then, he had taken a photo with a young boy at Beihai Park in Beijing.

Peng Pai, now an engineer, will meet Putin again today - 26 years after their first encounter.

"I want to tell President Putin, seeing you again, you're still as charming as back then, while I've turned from a young boy into a fattened middle-aged man," Peng said, in a video posted on Chinese state media.

"I never imagined I would have the opportunity to meet him again. It's truly incredible," Peng said, recalling how the Russian president had lifted him from a railing in the park to take a photo.

"He also gently kissed my forehead before we parted. Those are scenes I still remember vividly."

Image source, China News Service

Last year, Russian state media outlet Russia Today posted a search notice for Peng, writing on Weibo that it would be "truly meaningful" if the young boy in that 2000 photo could be located.

This sparked a viral search for Peng among social media users, and days later he was found: now an engineer with a master's degree from a university in Moscow - a choice that he told Chinese media had in some way been inspired by his short encounter with Putin.

Xi, Putin, and their respective delegations have just wrapped up their larger "wide format" meeting, Chinese state media CCTV said.

Here are the other things on Putin's schedule set to take place later today, according to the Kremlin and Russian state media:

• Putin and Xi will sign joint statements and a number of other bilateral agreements
• The presidents will then attend an opening ceremony of a bilateral education initiative
• Putin will meet with a Chinese engineer who he met as a child during a state visit in 2000
• Putin will also meet with Chinese premier Li Qiang to discuss trade and economic cooperation
• Finally, the visit will conclude with an informal, small-group tea session between Xi and Putin, where they will discuss "essential issues of the international agenda", a Kremlin aide told reporters

Laura Bicker
China correspondent

The military band, the inspection of the waiting honour guard and cheering children - all a near mirror image of Donald Trump's arrival last week.

Xi appears to be enjoying the international spotlight. But for Beijing, Putin's visit is a balancing act.

Ahead of this trip, Putin released a video which said relations between the two countries had reached an unprecedented level of mutual understanding.

That's partly because since his invasion of Ukraine, Russia has become far more reliant on China's economy, and Putin will be eager to discuss building a new gas pipeline between the two countries.

But China is more cautious because it still wants stable relations with the West - leaders from those countries have been coming to Beijing keen to strike trade deals. That's also why it has been trying to maintain a neutral position on the war in Ukraine.

Still, Xi wants to appear capable of talking to all sides, especially as he seeks a bigger role for China on the world stage. And strategically, Russia is a close neighbour - and certainly not one that Beijing would like to see destabilised.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

US envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit Russia in the "near future", Russian state media has reported, citing Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

In his role as Special Envoy for Peace Missions, Witkoff deals with issues related to Russia-Ukraine diplomacy.

Last December, he was in Moscow with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The pair spoke for hours to Putin about potential ways to end the Ukraine war - though such a deal has remained elusive.

Through his multiple visits to Russia, Witkoff said he has developed a "friendship" with Putin.

Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor

The Kremlin is clearly keen to play up its strategic partnership with China and present Russia’s relations with Beijing as deeper, more special than US-China ties.

That may explain some of the comments in this morning’s Russian newspapers: several articles take a dig at Trump’s recent China trip.

“In terms of concrete achievements, it was a failure...despite the Americans claiming otherwise," declares the daily broadsheet Izvestia.

“Russian diplomats accompanying Vladimir Putin know the nuances of Chinese etiquette, unlike the Americans,” suggests newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda. “Trump doesn’t understand Chinese culture, and doesn’t want to understand it.”

“Beijing welcomes Russia’s leader as an ally and a reliable partner,” claims the weekly newspaper Argumenty I Fakty, adding: “It hosted America’s leader as a rival from whom you don’t know what to expect."

Peter Hoskins
Business reporter, Singapore

Earlier on Wednesday, we heard from China Commerce Ministry that Beijing had confirmed it would buy 200 Boeing jets.

The announcement - China's first confirmation of the order - came as Xi was locked in talks with Putin.

Under the deal, the US will provide China with supply guarantees for aircraft engine parts and components, China's Commerce Ministry said.

The two sides will also work towards an extension of the tariffs truce they agreed in October and seek tariff cuts on $30bn (£22.4bn) or more of goods each, the ministry added.

Yvette Tan
Live editor

Image source, Getty Images

It's currently just past 13:30 in Beijing, where Russian president Vladimir Putin is currently holding "large-scale" meetings with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Here's what you need to know

• Putin was greeted by fanfare and a red-carpet welcome as he arrived at the Great Hall of the People. on Wednesday morning. He called Xi a "dear friend" and said he has been long-anticipating this meeting
• In their opening remarks, Xi told Putin that "unilateral hegemony" is "running rampant" in the world, calling on Beijing and Moscow to build "a more just and equitable global governance system"
• Putin told Xi that Russia was a "reliable energy supplier"amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East
• Putin also invited Xi to visit Russia next year, adding that relations between Beijing and Moscow are "helping global stability"
• The duo will later attend an official signing ceremony, a ceremony marking education initiatives and a tea ceremony to wrap up the day

Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates as we get them.

Laura Bicker
China correspondent

Image source, AFP

Putin told Xi that relations between Russia and China have reached “an unprecedentedly high level”.

We’ve heard this phrase before. Both Putin and his officials said the same during past visits to China in June and September last year.

But it always comes from the Russian side.

It is true that bilateral trade has touched a record high. But when it comes to language, the Chinese are more careful, even nuanced.

Xi calls his counterpart an “old friend” and has described their ties as “unyielding.”

The Chinese leader usually sticks to a careful script and will want to retain his upper hand rather than use soaring rhetoric about the relationship.

China is the partner Russia needs - and has the economic power and diplomatic clout to set the tone and the terms.

Putin told Xi they will "develop [bilateral] cooperation" and "work on international platforms", likely referring to platforms like the Brics grouping which both countries are a part of.

Xi in response affirmed Beijing's commitment to "unswervingly promote long-term, healthy and stable development of ties".

The two countries' "foundation of mutual trust is growing stronger", Chinese state media reported him saying.

We're getting some lines now from what has been dubbed a "wide format meeting" between Xi and Putin. It was originally scheuled to start at noon local time, but was pushed back by nearly an hour.

Chinese state media is reporting that Putin has told Xi that their "talks were substantial" and that the "Russia-China partnership is exemplary".

He also told Xi that their "aim is the well-being of Russia and Chinese people.

Meanwhile Xi has told Putin that "China and Russia relations have entered a new stage of more progress and faster development".

Laura Bicker
China correspondent

Cheering children - check. Military honour guard - check. Cannon fire and marching band - check.

Two visits. Two presidents. And just a few days apart.

Vladimir Putin is even scheduled to have tea with President Xi in the exclusive Communist Party headquarters later today.

This visit feels like a near mirror image of last week’s welcome for Donald Trump.

Beijing is eager to emphasise that Xi is someone the world's leaders want to meet.

We are already getting a hint of what is on the agenda with Putin.

The Chinese leader told his Russian counterpart that the world was in danger of reverting to the law of the jungle - a reference to the war in the Middle East. And he said the two should work together to promote a more just system of global governance, with no apparent reference to Russia's invasion of Ukraine which Beijing has refused to condemn so far.

Putin appears keen to discuss the construction of a major natural gas pipeline from Russia to China. He has already told Xi that Russia stands ready as a reliable energy supplier as the war in Iran causes a shortage in supplies.

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin were seen shaking hands and smiling after the conclusion of their short meeting.