Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged “congratulatory letters” on Sunday ahead of the Russian leader’s visit to Beijing this week, just four days after US President Donald Trump departed China following a high-stakes summit.
According to Chinese state media, Xi stated that bilateral cooperation between Russia and China has “continuously deepened and solidified,” with this year marking the 30th anniversary of the two countries’ strategic partnership. Putin’s visit is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
An article published in the state-run tabloid Global Times on Monday highlighted that the back-to-back visits of the US and Russian presidents demonstrate Beijing’s emergence as “the focal point of global diplomacy.” Analysts noted that it is extremely rare in the post-Cold War era for a country to host the leaders of both the US and Russia within a single week.
China’s deepening relationship with Russia remains a continuing cause for concern in the West, particularly since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Western diplomats and analysts assert that China’s economic and diplomatic support for Russia has helped sustain the conflict. The two leaders have met on more than 40 occasions, far more than Xi’s encounters with Western leaders.
Since 2022, China-Russia bilateral trade has soared to record levels, with China purchasing over a quarter of Russia’s exports. China’s large purchases of Russian crude oil have provided Moscow with hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue for the war in Ukraine. According to data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, Beijing has bought more than $367 billion worth of Russian fossil fuels since the start of the full-scale invasion.
These purchases have bolstered China’s energy security, which has become especially critical following the crisis in the Middle East that disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Neither the war in Ukraine nor the Sino-Russian relationship appeared to feature heavily in Trump’s talks with Xi last week. The Chinese statement on the main bilateral meeting briefly referenced “the Ukraine crisis,” while the US statement did not mention it at all. Instead, the US-China talks focused on trade, Taiwan, and the Middle East war, with Trump stating that China agreed on the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Xi also pressed Trump on Taiwan, warning of potential conflict if the issue is not handled properly. Trump left Beijing without deciding whether to approve a multi-billion-dollar US weapons deal to Taiwan. Halting the sale would be a major win for Beijing, which seeks to take control of the self-governing island—a move opposed by the majority of Taiwanese.
Joseph Webster, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, suggested in a newsletter that “Taiwan may be the subtext of the Xi-Putin meeting.” Webster noted that Beijing might seek additional fossil fuel deals with Moscow to secure energy supplies in the event of a future conflict. Expanding Russian oil pipeline capacity to China “would significantly enhance Beijing’s oil security in a Taiwan contingency,” he wrote.
Russia has been pressing China to advance the “Power of Siberia 2” gas pipeline, which would add 50 billion cubic meters of capacity to the existing network between the two countries.
