BEIJING --?Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin respectively sent congratulatory letters to the closing ceremony of the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation on Friday.

In his message, Xi recalled that when the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation opened in August 2020, he and President Putin respectively sent letters to express their congratulations and high expectations.

For more than a year, Xi said, China and Russia have joined their hands, overcome the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and carried out in a creative fashion more than 1,000 cooperation and exchange activities related to scientific and technological innovation.

He also noted that the two countries have actively facilitated the achievement of fruitful cooperation in such fields as pandemic prevention and control, aerospace and aviation, nuclear energy, and digital economy, while highlighting the successful launch of the China-Russia science and technology innovation fund and important cooperation progress in major strategic projects.

It has been proved that there is a great potential, as well as a broad prospect, for the China-Russia cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, he said.

Xi stressed that China and Russia, which are each other's largest neighbors, have jointly been playing an increasingly important role in the current international political and economic arena.

The Chinese president called on the two sides to uphold the concept of enduring friendship and win-win cooperation, and push forward cooperation in various fields in a practical manner.

He also urged the two sides to promote bilateral relations to a higher level, higher quality and higher standards, and to inject new impetus into the forging of a new type of international relations, and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

In his congratulatory letter, Putin said with joint efforts from both sides, the Russia-China Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation has been a success, which has fully demonstrated the significance of undertaking bilateral scientific and technological cooperation under the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

Over the past two years, Russian and Chinese scientific researchers have overcome the impact of the pandemic and carried out more than 1,000 scientific research activities, he said.

Principal results from the cooperation, he underlined, includes China's participation in the construction of the Nuclotron-based Ion Collider facility (NICA), a large-scale scientific facility, and the establishment of the Russian-China Mathematical Center by both sides.

Putin said he believes the two sides will continue to uphold the notion of enduring friendship and win-win cooperation, and continue to inject strong impetus into the promotion of all-round cooperation between Russia and China.

The China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation concluded on Friday.