Full coverage: Premier Li Visits Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Russia

Both China and Russia see the development of their bilateral relations as a top priority at the moment. Chinese President Xi Jinping last year pledged to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership of coordinaton during his visit to the Russian capital.

With their relations at such an advanced level, they are now considering whether to integrate their regional economic projects: namely China's Silk Road Economic Belt and Russia's Eurasian Economic Union.

The two projects would be combined under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, merging China's multi-billion dollar network of roads, rail and pipelines through Central Asia with the Eurasian Union, creating an economic body all the way from Shanghai to Saint Petersburg.