A senior official with the Communist Party of China, Liu Qibao, has met with Alexi Gromov,First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Executive Office in St. Petersburg on June 25th.

Liu has told Alexi Gromov that the bilateral relationship between China and Russia is of critical strategic importance.

He also says Chinese President Xi Jinping's attendance at the 70th anniverary of Russia's victory in Europe during World War II in Moscow last month is another positive sign for the future development of Sino-Russian relations.

Liu Qibao is in St. Petersburg to attend a China-Russia media forum.

The leaders of a number of Chinese and Russian departments and media organizations have also attended the forum, which has included a signing ceremony on media cooperation.

The forum was focused mostly on how to improve international communication through the media.

The head of China Radio International, Wang Gengnian, has attended the sessions on behalf of CRI.

A suppliment to a previous cooperation agreement between CRI and the "Russia Today" international news agency has been signed by Wang Gengnian and the Russian news agency President, Dmitry Kiselev.

As part of the new agreement, the two sides will increase information exchanges and jointly-produce additional programs in the field of new media.

They have also pledged to promote wide-scale communication and media cooperation between the Russian and Chinese sides.