President of Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua meets with Andrey Kondrashov, director general of Russia's TASS news agency, in Beijing, capital of China, May 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

President of Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua met with Andrey Kondrashov, director general of Russia's TASS news agency, in Beijing on Thursday.

Witnessed by the two heads of state, the two agencies signed a new agreement on news exchange and cooperation, Fu said, adding that it is expected that both sides will fully implement the agreement and make new contributions to deepening the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era.

Fu said that Xinhua supports TASS in hosting the BRICS media forum to create a favorable atmosphere for the meetings of BRICS leaders. He thanked TASS for actively participating in various activities under the World Media Summit mechanism, and hoped that both sides will continue to strengthen cooperation within the framework.

Noting that TASS and Xinhua have maintained long-term friendly cooperative relations, Kondrashov said the signing of the agreement witnessed by the two heads of state has great significance. He expected that both sides will continue to enhance cooperation in areas such as economic information exchange, artificial intelligence applications, and personnel visits.