Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Sochi to attend the opening ceremony of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games. Ahead of the event, Xi Jinping has met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin on bilateral ties. The sports event coincides with Chinese Lunar New Year. President Xi started his work before the national holiday ended.

This is the first foreign visit for the Chinese president in the New Year, and also the first time for a Chinese president to attend a sports event overseas.

Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his happiness at being invited to the Olympics opening ceremony. Xi said that hosting the event shows that Russia is on its way to prosperity under Putin’s leadership.

Xi added that he was confident the Sochi Olympics would be a splendid and unforgettable sports event.

Putin sent his gratitude to the Chinese president for travelling to Sochi to share the important occasion with the Russian people.

He called China a close friend and wished the Chinese Olympic team a successful performance.

The two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation in large strategic projects, such as increasing oil and natural gas supplies to China, expanding oil pipelines and jointly building oil refineries.

Putin said he is confident that the bilateral trade volume will reach one hundred billion US dollars in 2015.

The two partners have also decided to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the world anti-fascist war and the War of Resistance Against Japan.

After the meeting, Xi and Putin held a video conference with captains of Chinese and Russian naval vessels escorting the shipments of Syrian chemical weapons. The two captains said they escorted two shipments of chemical material in close cooperation.

Xi encouraged them to complete the mission and contribute to the pursuit of a political solution to the Syrian crisis. Putin said China and Russia had done a lot to bring peace in Syria.

President Xi Jinping is visiting Sochi from Thursday to Saturday. China has sent a 139-member delegation, including 66 athletes, to the Sochi games.