"On behalf of Chinese government, people and in my personal capacity I express deep sorrow at the death of people and extend my sincere condolences to the families of victims. In this difficult moment China's people stand firmly with Russian people," Xi's telegram read as quoted by the CCTV broadcaster.
China's president stressed that Beijing strongly condemned the terror attack and was against any form of terrorism. He also expressed China's readiness to increase cooperation with Russia and international community to fight terrorism and ensure regional peace and stability.
Earlier in the day, Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida also strongly condemned the terror attack in St. Petersburg, while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed condolences to Russian people.
On Monday, an explosion occurred in the St. Petersburg underground on the stretch of rail between the Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut metro stations at around 3 p.m. local time (12:00 GMT). The blast killed at least 11 and injured 51, according to Russia's St. Petersburg Chief Administration of Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation into a suspected terrorist attack.
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