Russian President Putin Visits China: Power Shifts from East to West I
Dr. Syed Mehboob
Senior Business and Political Analyst
http//: www.thenewslark.com
Email:
[email protected] Global Power is shifting from West to East and China and Russia are gaining importance in global power game. After the US president Donald Trump’s visit, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China. Analysts give very importance to his visit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin paid an official and high profile visit to China from 19 to 20th May 2026. Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted him in Beijing. The 24 hour Summit marked Putin’s 25th visit to the country. It highlighted deepening ties between these two world powers and gives indication that the time of uni-power world is over and the world is moving towards a multi power set up. President Putin traveled with a large delegation, including five vice premiers, eight ministers, and the heads of state-backed oil and gas companies, indicating a heavy focus on energy and trade.
With Russia heavily reliant on China for trade due to Western sanctions, the discussions aimed to strengthen economic ties and push for more energy deals, including negotiations on the Power of Siberia pipeline. The leaders met for their 40th time as presidents, using the backdrop of their "no limits" partnership to position themselves as a force of calm amid turbulent global situations. They also discussed the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and international diplomacy.
The timing of the summit—just days after U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing—served as a pointed reminder of China's pivotal diplomatic role and its balancing act between major world power. During Trump’s visit, China sought to stabilize ties with the United States, while Putin’s trip served to deepen its strategic partnership with Russia.
The U.S. president stayed in China for three days, while Putin’s visit lasted two. Both leaders were welcomed at Tiananmen Square with ceremonial guards, a military band and children waving flags. Both also held closed-door meetings with Xi at the Great Hall of the People, next to the square.Putin, spent much of his time with Xi inside the Great Hall of the People, where the two presidents toured a photo exhibition on China-Russia relations and later had tea.
With Putin, Xi sought to reinforce and deepen a longstanding partnership that is both strategic and economically important for the two countries. Putin said the “driving force” of the relationship was the energy sector, particularly oil and gas.
China and Russia reached more than 40 cooperation agreements covering areas including trade, technology and media exchanges. The two leaders also signed a joint declaration describing Russia and China as “important centers of power in a multipolar world.”
Moscow is closely aligned with Beijing on the issue of Taiwan, the island democracy China claims as its own. Meanwhile, the U.S. maintains an intentionally ambiguous stance on the island and serves as its main informal backer and arms provider. In the joint declaration signed by Xi and Putin, Russia reiterated its opposition to Taiwanese independence “in any form” and voiced support for what it described as China’s efforts to defend its sovereignty and achieve “national unification.”According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, both sides also raised concerns over what they called “accelerated remilitarization” of Japan, against the backdrop of strained China-Japan ties over Taiwan.
Putin was received at the airport by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in line with standard diplomatic protocol. Wang is a Politburo member and one of China’s top diplomats owing to his dual role as foreign minister and director of the Party’s central foreign affairs office.
After the Putin-Xi talks, a 9,935-word joint statement, which touched on nuclear security, Taiwan and even Amur tigers, giant pandas and golden snub-nosed monkeys, was signed alongside a shorter joint declaration. Another 20 documents ranging from sanitary norms and state news to nuclear energy were inked, although no major deals have been announced.
For Russia, five of the 10 deputy prime ministers attended along with eight cabinet ministers, with a focus on oil, energy and banking. Russia also held two separate bilateral meetings - restricted talks with a smaller number of officials and then later expanded discussions.
A key feature of Putin’s visit was a trip to an outdoor photo exhibition hosted by Russia’s TASS and China’s Xinhua news agencies. The exhibition titled “The Unbreakable Friendship of Great Nations, the Strategic Partnership of Great Powers” saw the two leaders view curated photos of their past meetings. This friendship was further emphasized through Putin’s poetic line to Xi that “one day apart feels like three autumns”.
The military orchestra of the People's Liberation Army played a variety of Chinese and Russian pieces during the banquet, according to Russian state news agency TASS. Those included a classic melody from the Peking opera tradition, and the dance of the little swans from Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake".
Putin and Xi have frequently visited each other’s countries since Xi’s first trip to Russia days after becoming Chinese president in 2013. Xi has since visited Russia at least 10 times, including for state visits and international events. Putin has visited China 14 times since 2014, travelling at least once a year except in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beijing and Moscow have both touted the fact that this is Putin's 25th official visit to China. Fourteen of these trips have taken place after Xi became the country's leader in 2013. This means Putin has travelled to China at least once a year, barring those years when the country was locked down because of the pandemic.
Putin was the guest of honour at a military parade that China held in September 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two. Reports say Putin's presence put off major Western leaders, who shunned the parade. In February 2022, Putin also visited Beijing for the Winter Olympics, during which the two leaders affirmed a "no limits" bilateral partnership. This came just days before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine
In September last year, the Russian president attended a military parade to mark China's victory over Japan in World War Two. This parade was also attended by North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un
Putin was also a primary participant in Beijing's Belt and Road forums over the years, highlighting the importance of economic and infrastructural cooperation between Russia and China
Share
Xi and Putin call out "treacherous military strikes against other countries, the hypocritical use of negotiations as cover for preparing such strikes, the assassination of leaders of sovereign states, the destabilization of the domestic political situation in these states and the provocation of regime change, and the brazen kidnapping of national leaders for trial". Such actions, they say, "grossly violate the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the norms of international law and international relations, and cause irreparable damage to the foundations of the world order formed following World War Two".
Xi and Putin are increasingly positioning themselves as the vanguards of a new international order, amid concerns about the current world order during Trump's second presidency.
There is a need to understand the joint declaration of both the countries leaders which reflects that the power is shifting to east from west and the world is now ready to welcome a multi-polar world order. Where China and Russia have mian roles.
( Continued )