SANYA, Hainan - Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged to continue strategic partnership between the two countries during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit on Wednesday afternoon.

Chinese President Hu Jintao?shakes hands with?Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit on Wednesday afternoon, April 13, 2011. [Photo by Wu Zhiyi/chinadaily.com.cn]?

This is their first meeting this year.

In his opening remarks, Hu highlighted the fact that he and Medvedev met six times last year.

Special Coverage:  BRICS Summit 2011

China and Russia must keep up and deepen their relationship, Hu said.

The cooperation between Russia and China has expanded into many fields over the past year, while the two countries have also coordinated their stance?on international issues of concerns as well, Mevedev said in his opening remarks.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is in China for the BRICS Leaders Meeting scheduled on Thursday. Brazilian President Rousseff,?Indian Prime Minister Singh and South African President Zuma will also attend the meeting presided by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

BRICS is a grouping acronym that refers to the countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.