Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan (3rd R) meets with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova (2nd L) in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 16, 2019. Sun and Golikova co-chaired the 20th session of the China-Russia Committee on Humanities Cooperation here on Monday. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova have agreed to strengthen cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries on Monday.

Sun and Golikova reached the agreement when co-chairing the 20th session of the China-Russia Committee on Humanities Cooperation here.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin attended many events marking the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries this year, Sun said.

Under the strategic leadership of two heads of state, practical cooperation has deepened constantly in various fields of humanities, regional cooperation has advanced continuously, which has laid a solid foundation of public support for the development of China-Russia ties, she said.

After two decades since its founding, the China-Russia Committee on Humanities Cooperation has matured and entered a period of healthy and stable development, Sun said.

She recalled that Xi and Putin had decided early June in Moscow to upgrade the bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, and agreed to incorporate humanities exchanges as one of the five major areas of the bilateral ties.

Both sides should make continuous efforts, consolidate and deepen the existing cooperation results, expand new space for further cooperation, foster more popular programs, and pass the time-honored friendship down to future generations, Sun said.

Golikova hailed the fruitful results and sound momentum that Russia-China humanities cooperation has achieved over the past year, saying that Russia is willing to extend such cooperation on more levels and in broader spheres, and strongly promote the Russia-China "Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation," to bring the bilateral humanities cooperation to a new height.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Sun and Golikova attended an exhibition of archives commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and a roundtable forum of university heads from both countries.

Sun and Golikova also witnessed the signing of seven cooperation deals.