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Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to head to Russia for a state visit following an invitation from President Vladimir Putin in December.
Key points:
- Mr Putin invited Mr Xi to visit Russia during a call in late December
- The Kremlin says the leaders will discuss "deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation"
- China is Russia's biggest buyer of oil, and trade between the two countries has increased massively since the Ukraine war began
Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine is expected to dominate discussions.
The Kremlin said Mr Xi was due to arrive there next Monday and be in the country for three days.
The visit comes as China offers to broker peace in Ukraine, an effort that has been met with scepticism in the West given Beijing's diplomatic support for Russia.
"During the talks, they will discuss topical issues of further development of comprehensive partnership relations and strategic cooperation between Russia and China," the Kremlin said.
"A number of important bilateral documents will be signed."
Mr Xi and Mr Putin will discuss "deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation in the international arena," the Kremlin said.
Mr Putin invited Mr Xi to visit Russia during a video conference call the two held in late December.
The visit, Mr Putin said, could "demonstrate to the whole world the strength of the Russian-Chinese ties" and "become the main political event of the year in bilateral relations".
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin said in a daily briefing on Friday that Mr Xi would "have an in-depth exchange of views with President Putin on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues of common concern, promote strategic cooperation and practical cooperation between the two countries, and inject new impetus into the development of bilateral relations".
"Currently, the world is entering a new period of turbulences and reform with the accelerated evolution of changes of the century. As permanent members of the UN Security Council and important major countries, the significance and impact of the China-Russia relations go far beyond the bilateral sphere," he added.
China's foreign minister has rare talk with Ukrainian counterpart
In a rare phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart on Thursday, China's foreign minister said Beijing was concerned about the year-old grinding conflict with Russia spinning out of control and urged talks on a political solution with Moscow.
Qin Gang told Dmytro Kuleba that China had "always upheld an objective and fair stance on the Ukraine issue, has committed itself to promoting peace and advancing negotiations and calls on the international community to create conditions for peace talks", China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
Mr Kuleba later tweeted that he and Mr Qin "discussed the significance of the principle of territorial integrity".
"I underscored the importance of [Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's] Peace Formula for ending the aggression and restoring just peace in Ukraine," wrote Mr Kuleba, who spoke the on same day with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
China and Russia struck a "no limits" partnership in February 2022, when Mr Putin was visiting Beijing for the opening of the Winter Olympics, weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine.
The two sides have since continued to reaffirm the strength of their ties.
Trade between the two countries has soared since the invasion, and China is Russia's biggest buyer of oil, a key source of revenue for Moscow.
ABC/wires