CHINESE Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday began his four-day trip to Russia to attend the 18th round of China-Russia strategic security consultation, with a range of bilateral and multilateral issues related to security expected to be discussed, following his two-day meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Malta over the weekend.

Chinese experts said on Monday that the strategic consultation, as an institutionalized channel between China and Russia, plays a crucial role as a smooth bilateral high-level exchange channel, as well as in ensuring mutual support in the complex international situation, and also framing the direction of China-Russia interactions for the rest of the year, and paving the way for a possible head-of-state meeting.