The USSR and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations for the first time on October 2, 1949. The Soviet Union became the first foreign state to declare recognition of the PRC.
On February 14, 1950, the Soviet-Chinese Treaty of friendship, alliance and mutual assistance was signed in Moscow. In the following decade, bilateral cooperation was formalized by a number of important agreements, including assistance in the construction and reconstruction of 156 large industrial enterprises in China, the transfer of Soviet shares in joint-stock companies to China, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Port Arthur, the training of Chinese citizens in Soviet universities, etc.
On October 12, 1954, a Joint Declaration was signed in which the parties declared their readiness to consult in order to coordinate actions to ensure their security and maintain peace in the Far East and around the world.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the differences in the approaches of the leadership of the two states to the main issues of domestic and international politics intensified. Since 1960, the polemical battles between the two Communist parties have escalated into border conflicts. Consultations between the government delegations of the USSR and the People's Republic of China on clarifying the Soviet-Chinese state border, which took place in 1964, did not lead to positive results, and since November 1964 all contacts between the leaders of the two countries have practically ceased. It was only in 1969 that the mechanism of border negotiations was launched, which lasted until the end of the 1970s. Since 1982, there has been a mechanism of political consultations at the level of deputy foreign Ministers. Since 1983, a dynamic expansion of cultural, sports and student exchanges has begun.
In 1984 and 1985, meetings of the Foreign Ministers of the USSR and the People's Republic of China were held in New York during the sessions of the UN General Assembly, which then became regular.
The official visit of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev to China in May 1989 marked the normalization of Soviet-Chinese interstate relations.
After the collapse of the USSR, on December 24, 1991, the PRC Government recognized the Russian Federation as the legal successor of the international rights and obligations of the former Soviet Union.
The basic principles of Russian-Chinese relations, the main directions and areas of bilateral cooperation are reflected in the Treaty on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China, signed on July 16, 2001 in Moscow and entered into force on February 28, 2002.
There are intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements in almost all areas of cooperation.
Contacts between the heads of state of the two countries are regular — meetings are held at least three times a year (official visits, bilateral contacts within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and APEC summits).
On March 22-23, 2013, the first visit of the new Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia took place, during which Xi Jinping held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin.
On the same day, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping opened the Year of Chinese Tourism in Russia at the State Kremlin Palace.
The meetings of the heads of state were also held in September 2013 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Strelna (Leningrad region) and in October on the sidelines of the summit of the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries on the Indonesian island of Bali.
In February 2014, the Chinese President visited Sochi to participate in the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games.
Since 1996, the mechanism of regular (annual) meetings of the heads of government of Russia and China has been in operation. To ensure its work, a commission was formed to prepare for regular meetings of heads of government, as well as a number of sectoral subcommissions whose scope of activity covers a wide range of areas of cooperation.
The last meeting of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev with Chinese President Xi Jinping took place on October 22, 2013, and the Russian Prime Minister also took part in the meeting of the heads of government of the Russian Federation and China.
Contacts have been established at the level of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs.
On April 15, 2014, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid an official visit to China, during which Lavrov had a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping and talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The current state of Russian-Chinese inter-parliamentary relations is characterized by a high intensity of contacts. Delegations are exchanged on a regular basis through specialized committees and commissions, as well as deputy groups of Russian-Chinese friendship established in both parliaments.
The State Duma and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, together with the National People's Congress (NPC), have created and are carrying out the activities of joint inter-parliamentary commissions.
In May 2013, Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Sergey Naryshkin paid an official visit to China. During the visit, Sergey Naryshkin took part in the sixth meeting of the Russian-Chinese Parliamentary Commission on Cooperation between the State Duma of the Russian Federation and the National People's Congress, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhang Dejiang.