Dozens of Russian and Chinese regions have established cooperation ties between them and the two countries’ authorities place great importance on such cooperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a roundtable on bilateral regional cooperation, which also involved Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

"Together with our friend Chairman Xi Jinping, we have taken advantage of this opportunity to arrange a meeting between representatives of the regions that cooperate with each other. There are several dozens of cooperating pairs [of Russian and Chinese regions]," Putin said, addressing the meeting’s participants.

"We place great importance on this, and Chairman Xi Jinping spoke about it directly at our today’s meeting… We now have a wonderful opportunity to listen to our colleagues representing Russian and Chinese regions," Putin added, turning the floor over to regional heads.