BEIJING - This year has been a fruitful one for Sino-Russian relations, and there is good reason to be optimistic about the future, said Russia's ambassador to Beijing ahead of the regular meeting between the two countries' prime ministers.

"I can say without exaggeration that in the past several decades the China-Russia relationship has gained great momentum, and now is at its highest point in history," Russian Ambassador to China Sergey Razov told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

Premier Wen Jiabao will pay a three-day official visit to Russia beginning on Monday, when he will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the 15th Chinese-Russian prime ministers regular meeting.