We're now seeing more lines on the two leaders' exchange earlier this morning.
According to Russian state media TASS, Putin, as he had before, called Xi a "dear friend".
The Russian leader also recalled a Chinese idiom – "Even if we haven't seen each other for a day, it feels like three autumns have passed" – typically used to describe an arduous wait for a significant event to happen, or for a goal to be achieved.
Relations between Moscow and Beijing have reached an "unprecedentedly high level", Putin said.
He also noted that trade turnover between Russia and China has increased more than 30 times over the past 25 years, according to TASS.
