On January 28, 2014, Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping and H.E. Andrey Denisov, Russian Ambassador to China jointly held a press conference at the Russian press center in Beijing. Both sides agreed that President Xi Jinping choosing Russia as the first country for his state visit last March has guided and promoted the development of China-Russia relations to achieve fruitful results. China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has become a bilateral relationship with the highest level, the solidest foundation, the richest contents, and the greatest regional and global influence between major countries.

The two sides expressed that President Xi Jinping will head for Sochi of Russia to attend the opening ceremony of the 22nd Winter Olympics from February 6 to 8 at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, which is of primary importance in the bilateral relations this year. Cheng Guoping said that President Xi Jinping again choose Russia as the first country to visit at the outset of a new year for two consecutive years. It is also the first time for the Chinese state leader to attend a grand sports event abroad. It fully demonstrates the high level and distinctiveness of China-Russia relations, the good working relationship and close personal friendship between the two heads of state, the strategic cooperation on major issues of mutual concern of both the Chinese and Russian sides, and the Chinese side's support for the International Olympic Games. Both sides are carrying out preparatory work under full cooperation to ensure that President Xi's attendance of the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics will achieve full success, injecting fresh impetus into the development of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. Denisov said that President Xi's attendance will be the most important event of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Both sides answered questions from journalists respectively. In response to journalists' questions, Cheng Guoping said that the Japanese leader's blatant visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A war criminals of the World War II are consecrated, has broken the bottom line that the Chinese people can tolerate and brought new serious obstacles to the improvement of China-Japan relations. The current difficult situation of China-Japan relations is fomented single-handedly by the Japanese side. The Chinese side urges the Japanese leaders to admit mistakes, make a fresh start, and make concrete efforts to improve the bilateral relations with practical actions. China will not consider any form of contact with the Japanese leader during the Sochi Winter Olympics. Responding to questions from the journalists, Denisov said that the Chinese side is fully capable of managing its relations with other countries like Japan and does not need a mediator.