Chinese President Hu Jintao welcomed Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as an old friend of China on Wednesday, telling him his two-day visit to Beijing has advanced relations between their countries.

The two leaders exchanged pleasantries before disappearing behind closed doors for private talks. Mr. Putin told the president he looked forward to discussing the entire scope of Chinese-Russian relations.

Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Putin told National People's Congress leader Wu Bangguo that the relationship with China affects the wellbeing of Russian citizens.

During talks Tuesday between Mr. Putin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, the two countries pledged to resolve a pricing dispute that has held up a major deal to sell Russian natural gas to China.

Russia's state-controlled gas giant Gazprom and China's National Petroleum Company signed a framework deal two years ago under which China could buy nearly 70 billion cubic meters a year of Russian gas for the next 30 years. Russia is the world's biggest energy producer, while China is the biggest consumer.

Mr. Putin also gave an interview to Chinese media in which he explained an earlier comment about the U.S. economy.

He said he had not described the United States itself as a parasite on the global economy. But he said the United States is a parasite on the U.S. dollar, which is effectively the only global currency.