Russian security council secretary to visit China next week

The secretary of Russia's Security Council Sergei Shoigu will visit China next week for talks with top Chinese officials, Russian state news agencies reported.

Moscow and Beijing have deepened military and defence ties since Russia ordered troops into Ukraine nearly three years ago, with Chinese President Xi Jinping one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most important allies on the world stage.

Shoigu will visit China on 11-14 November for "consultations on strategic security issues" with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Security Council said in a statement cited by Russian state media.

The pair will discuss "current problems of international and regional security, as well as a wide range of topics on bilateral cooperation," Russia said.

Shoigu was Russia's defense minister for the first two years of its offensive on Ukraine, before being moved to the Security Council by Putin after a string of military setbacks and criticism from the country's influential military correspondents.

He will also meet with top Chinese security official Chen Wenqing, who heads the ruling Communist Party's powerful Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.