Xi received Lavrov in the Chinese capital "as part of his participation in the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)", Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

"A number of issues of bilateral political contacts at the highest and high levels were discussed," including preparations for Russian leader Vladimir Putin's visit to China to join a SCO summit and World War II anniversary celebrations.

Russia's TASS news agency reported that Xi met Lavrov after the Chinese president held a "general meeting" with SCO foreign ministers.

Lavrov met Sunday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to discuss Ukraine and relations with the United States.

The Russian foreign minister arrived in China following a visit to North Korea, where he received assurances of support in its conflict with Ukraine.

Beijing, a diplomatic and economic ally of Moscow, claims to be neutral in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

But China has never denounced Russia's more than three-year military campaign nor called for it to withdraw its troops, and many of Ukraine's allies believe that Beijing has provided support to Moscow.

China regularly calls for an end to the fighting, while also accusing Western countries of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine.

Beijing has long sought to present the 10-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as a counterweight to Western-led power blocs such as NATO, and has pushed to strengthen collaboration between its member countries in politics, security, trade and science.