MOSCOW, March 19 -- Russia and China will jointly celebrate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Second World War to uphold world peace and wartime history.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday met here with Li Zhanshu, a senior official of Communist Party of China (CPC).

Putin said he expected Chinese President Xi Jinping to come to Moscow for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War on May 9.

According to Putin, the two countries' joint celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Second World War would help safeguard world peace against attempts to distort history and glorify invaders.

Li, member of the CPC Central Committee's Political Bureau and member of the CPC Central Committee's Secretariat as well as director of the CPC Central Committee's General Office, said that China and Russia, as two main battlefields in Asia and Europe during World War II, had made enormous contributions to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.

China and Russia have decided to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the victory of World War II in both countries, which is of great significance to commemorating martyrs, remembering the history, cherishing and safeguarding world peace while serving a wake up call for future, Li added.

According to Li, President Xi has always treated the development of China-Russia relations as priorities and valued highly the sound working relationship and personal friendship with President Putin.

Putin said Russia is willing to work with China and push forward bilateral cooperation in all fields, and asked Li to extend his good wishes to President Xi.

During the past two years, the two heads of state have met eight times, reaching a series of important consensus on strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership and bilateral cooperation in all spheres.

Those meetings and consensus, said Li, have ushered in a new era of bilateral relations, with constant fruitful results.

As the two leaders would maintain close contacts this year at bilateral and multilateral levels, Li pledged that the General Office of the CPC Central Committee is willing to work closely with the Russian Presidential Administration to implement consensus on cooperation and make the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the WWII a success.

Li also held talks with Russian Presidential Administration Chief Sergei Ivanov, and exchanged views on the mechanism of enhancing contacts between the two sides. They also met the press together after the talks.