Russia and China have common interests in many fields, said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday during his annual press conference.

"Concerning China, we have overlapping interests in many areas," Putin said, adding that these mutual interests have contributed to Russia's positive relations with China.

Commenting on ties with leaders of other countries, Putin said that he has maintained a very friendly, pragmatic and trustful relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, adding that the pragmatic, cooperative relationship with the Chinese leader will largely benefit the development of the ties between the two countries.

The Russian president also defended China on the origin of the COVID-19, saying that there is no evidence for such accusation and what the world needs to do is to unite against the virus instead of blaming who is responsible for the pandemic.

He also added that sanctions and trade restrictions should be lifted for countries struggling with COVID-19.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in the first 10 months of this year, the two countries' bilateral trade reached 88 billion U.S. dollars, with gradually narrowing drop in volume. Trade in the fields of agriculture, energy, and cross-border e-commerce actually increased against the odds. The China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation has been successfully launched, accumulating more positive elements in the bilateral cooperation.

Several days before the annual press conference, the Chinese and Russian defense ministers signed an agreement to prolong both countries' missile notification deal for another 10 years — an agreement that requires each side to notify the other before conducting any ballistic missile or space rocket launches.