Strengthening ties between Beijing and Moscow have become increasingly close in recent years, with Chinese President Xi Jinping lauding the two countries' partnership at a meeting with a top Russian politician in Beijing today.

Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the Federation Council -- the Russian parliament's upper house -- and Xi met at the Great Hall of the People, with CCTV reporting that Xi said the development of relations between the two countries was "a strategic choice made by both countries based on the fundamental interests of their respective countries and peoples".

The strengthening of ties between China and Russia comes as leaders from the West are gathering in Lithuania's capital ahead of a summit expected to present unity on Ukraine's future membership of the NATO military alliance -- a prospect Russia has reacted furiously to.

With Beijing declaring itself a neutral party in the war, its refusal to condemn the invasion has led many of Kyiv's allies to accuse it of favouring Russia. Matviyenko on Monday said the strategic partnership between Beijing and Moscow "has reached the highest level in history and continues to develop steadily", according to CCTV.

She said a March visit by Xi to Moscow, where he met his counterpart Vladimir Putin, had "injected strong impetus into the further development of Russia-China relations".

Xi also said both countries needed to “strengthen communication and collaboration within multilateral mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the BRICS countries, lead the correct direction of global governance reform, and safeguard the common interests of emerging market countries and developing countries”.

This shows an interest in China and Russia to become more involved in global governance, which could have a strong positive impact on the direction of world affairs. The partnership between China and Russia has grown significantly over the past few years, and is set to continue to grow.

This partnership could have a potentially huge influence on global governance, and it is encouraging to see the two countries looking to lead the way in global reform. Such a strong partnership helps to ensure the interests of both countries are represented on the global stage, and could be beneficial to developing and emerging market countries.

Xi and Matviyenko’s meeting shows the importance of the relationship between the two countries, and how they are looking to work together to ensure the interests of their respective countries are met.

It is clear that both countries are keen to lead the way in global reform, and that their partnership could have an important role to play in the future of global governance.