Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on September 2, and again condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Russia on behalf of the Chinese government.

Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a message of condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier Thursday over the deaths of civilians in the subway explosion and hostage crises in that country.

About 400 people have been taken hostage after a group of armed men seized a school in south Russia's North Ossetia Wednesday morning and nine people, including eight civilians, have reportedly been killed in the incident. Some recent terrorist explosions in Moscow, capital of Russia, also caused heavy casualties.

Li expressed condolences to the victims and offered his sincere sympathy to the relatives of those killed in the tragedies.

Li and Lavrov exchanged views on the Middle East issue, and agreed to work together for a success of meetings between President Hu and President Putin and between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov within this year, so as to advance the China-Russia strategic partnership.