No matter how the international situation changes, the momentum of China and Russia's commitment to friendship will remain constant and dynamic, officials and scholars said, as President Xi Jinping starts a state visit to Russia on Wednesday.

During his four-day stay until Saturday, Xi will also attend the celebrations in Moscow marking the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War.

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As a sign of the high level of bilateral relations, the two countries have publicly exchanged support for each other in organizing these anniversaries when speaking about their bilateral agenda for this year.

At a meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Moscow on April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he "looks forward to the Chinese side coming to Russia to attend commemorative events", and the two nations should continue to send strong signals to the world on their strengthening strategic collaboration in the face of the volatile international situation.

Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said the two countries "join hands to defend the victorious outcome of World War II, jointly advocate international justice, and safeguard the postwar international order as well as the central role of the United Nations in the international system".

"During this year, important high-level contacts between China and Russia will once again write a new chapter in the bilateral relationship," he told Russian media on April 21.

Analysts noted that in recent years the two countries have strengthened political mutual trust, continuously deepened pragmatic cooperation, seen thriving people-to-people cooperation, and more closely collaborated in the international arena.

Wang Wen, dean of Renmin University of China's Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, noted that President Putin has made it clear that the development of relations with China is a strategic choice made by Russia with a long-term perspective, is by no means a tactical move, and is not subject to the influence of a certain event or to the interference of external factors.

"We also need to basically have strategic confidence in China-Russia relations," Wang said.

As part of the two countries' frequent high-level exchanges, Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk in Boao, Hainan province, in March, and with Russian Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev in Beijing last month.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Russia Today in an interview last month that, "For such major countries and neighbors with global influence as China and Russia, neither alliance nor confrontation is in the fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries and their peoples."

Su Xiaohui, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said that friendship for generations and never being an enemy to each other is "an important lesson that China and Russia have learned in their interactions over past decades".

"The two sides are willing to carry on this consensus", as it serves as a cornerstone for advancing the further development of relations between the two countries and "brings more certainty to regional security and world peace", Su said.

She also noted that "the world is glad to see that the two major countries are able to maintain communication, avoid miscalculation, strengthen cooperation and share responsibility".

Last year, the trade volume between the two countries reached $244.8 billion, up 1.9 percent year-on-year.

China has remained Russia's top trade partner for 15 consecutive years, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

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The two sides are making solid progress in cooperation in fields including the economy and trade, investment, energy and aerospace, and they are expanding cooperation in emerging fields such as the digital economy, e-commerce, biomedicine, and science and technology innovation, observers said.

"China is willing to continue to contribute to the development of the world economy with Russia," Xiang Bo, Chinese consul general in Kazan, said in an opinion piece published in Russian media on April 9.

He compared China-Russia cooperation to a high-speed train, saying that "while the scenery changes and the weather changes on the way, the direction of the train will not change, and the rhythm of its steady progress will not change".

Feng Shaolei, director of the Center for Russian Studies at East China Normal University in Shanghai, said at a forum in March that "China and Russia both advocate the independent and autonomous management of internal and external relations, and the relationship between the two countries is the mainstay of the world's transformation".

Li Hai, Chinese consul general in Irkutsk, wrote in an article in March that both China and Russia are major countries in science and technology, and they "should firmly advocate global scientific and technological cooperation and fair competition, and oppose technological blockades and scientific and technological bullying".

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn