The Focus series, launched in 2003, has included breaking news events, landmark celebrations of sportsmanship and insights into places such as Taiwan and Macao. The latest effort is the first time it has focused on another country.

Kang Bing, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily, said the album captured the vivid moments of Russia and highlighted the friendship between China and Russia.

Together with Zhu, Mikhail Shvydkoi, special representative of the president of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation, and Pavel Negoitsa, general director of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, wrote the preface for the album.

Shvydkoi said the international cultural cooperation project is an excellent way of consolidating and developing country-to-country relations and providing interesting insights into people's daily lives to residents of other countries.

"Only when we know each other's lives and traditions can we really trust each other and resist any attempt to distort history," he said.

At the launching ceremony, Zhu presented the album as a gift to Denisov.

suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn