Vice Premier Wang Yang said on Tuesday that China is willing to accelerate joint research into long-range, wide-body jets and heavy-duty helicopters with Russia.

Wang made the comment when meeting with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Rogozin, in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The two officials are respective chairmen of the Joint Commission for the Regular Meetings of Heads of Government of China and Russia.

Wang didn't give any details about the progress of the joint research.

China and Russia's mulling of cooperation on the two programs was revealed as early as 2011.

During a visit to Beijing last June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the two countries were in discussions on expediting the research on jointly manufacturing long-range, wide-body aircraft and heavy-lift helicopters, while continuing a cooperative program focused on the aviation sector.

In September 2012, Putin once again raised the topic, saying the market for wide-body jets has been monopolized by Europe's Airbus and US' Boeing, reported the Voice of Russia.

Putin acknowledged that it was a very difficult mission to compete with the two aviation giants, but noted that Russia and China should "strive to seize their own positions in an open and honest competition."

The Russian leader also revealed that China and Russia were mulling jointly building a helicopter with a capacity of 20 tons, and proposed that the joint venture be set up at a Russian helicopter base. "[We are] also considering manufacturing the helicopters in Russia's Far East," he added.

In addition to the aircraft and helicopter projects, Wang Tuesday also told Rogozin that China is willing to cooperate on projects with Russia in the nuclear sector and speed up cross-border infrastructure construction.

China will also support Chinese enterprises and financial institutions to increase investment in Russia and actively participate in the development of Russia's Far East, Wang said.

Rogozin said the meeting between the two heads of state in Moscow in March has added strong momentum to bilateral relations. Russia is willing to work with China to expand cooperation and strategic partnership, he said.