China’s Xi gives Putin a red-carpet welcome – and makes a veiled jab at the US

Chinese leader Xi Jinping praised relations with Russia as a force that provides “calm in the midst of chaos” during a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday.

Xi touched on the increasingly tense international situation and delivered a veiled jab at the United States as he sat with Putin in the Great Hall of the People for meetings at the start of the Russian leader’s nearly 24-hour official visit to China’s capital.

“The international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and transformation, while unilateral hegemonic currents are rampant,” Xi said, using Beijing’s typical language to criticize what he sees as excesses in American foreign policy.

In response, Xi said China and Russia should improve “comprehensive strategic coordination”, according to Chinese state media.

For Xi, hosting the leaders of the United States and Russia, two countries both mired in conflict, in a matter of days is a boon as he aims to bolster China’s reputation as a global power broker.

But while both leaders received a red carpet welcome, Putin’s visit was a more outward display of the friendship between the two leaders and their countries.

Putin and Xi also signed a joint statement (a diplomatic gesture that has become standard for Russian leaders on official visits to China but did not occur during Trump’s visit) reiterating their close ties and desire for a “multipolar world.”

Common criticisms of US dominance included Xi and Putin condemning Trump’s plan to build the multibillion-dollar Golden Dome missile defense system.

“The parties believe that the US ‘Golden Dome’ project… poses a clear threat to strategic stability. These plans completely defeat the fundamental principle of maintaining strategic stability, which requires the inextricable interconnection of strategic offensive and strategic defensive weapons,” the duo said in a joint statement, according to the Kremlin.

The Chinese leader directly addressed the US-Israeli war against Iran, saying an “early end” of that war would help reduce disruptions to energy supplies, supply chains and trade.

“A comprehensive cessation of the war does not allow delay, the resumption of hostilities is even less desirable, and resuming negotiations is especially important,” Xi said.

Putin, whose army continues to fight in Ukraine, is making his 25th official visit to China as Russia’s leader in a quarter of a century, and his first since the start of new conflicts in the Middle East.

Xi and Putin have significantly tightened their countries’ coordination on trade, diplomacy and security in recent years, in line with shared frictions with the United States and the goal of reshaping a world order unfairly dominated by the West.

In his opening speech, Putin said China-Russia relations had reached “an unprecedentedly high level” and were among the “main stabilizing factors on the international stage.”

In his opening speech, he also spoke of the close personal ties between himself and the Chinese leader, who has met him more than 40 times. To emphasize the sadness of separation, he used a Chinese idiom meaning “One day apart feels like three autumns.”

The day-long meetings between Putin and Xi focused on further expanding their “borderless” partnership and also gave the two the opportunity to discuss Trump’s visit and the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

Putin had previously stated that energy, industry, agriculture, transportation and high technology would be other issues on the agenda.

“Amid the crisis in the Middle East, Russia continues to maintain its role as a reliable supplier of resources, while China remains a responsible consumer of these resources,” he told Xi.

Double move for Beijing

Putin’s welcome in front of the monumental Great Hall on Wednesday morning had all the trappings of the typical state visit reception that Beijing also bestowed on Trump last week.

Xi and a group of his senior officials shook hands with the Russian President before the relaxed-looking leaders stood shoulder to shoulder during a gun salute as a military band played and Russian and Chinese flags flew in the background.

Children waved flags and flowers as the leaders passed; This was a feature of last week’s ceremony that clearly amused Trump.

These optics appeared intended to highlight the enduring and deepening alignment of China and Russia, even as both governments change their relations with the United States.

The two sides are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the “Good Neighborhood and Friendly Cooperation Agreement” of 2001, which resolved long-standing border disputes and initiated a new era of cooperation.

They were also expected to welcome what they saw as a new direction in international relations, one that would serve their strategic goals and in which the United States was no longer the global superpower.

But behind the flourishes and platitudes, Putin is in a much weaker position vis-à-vis Xi than he was during his last visit to Beijing in September.

Days before his arrival, Ukraine launched what the Russian media said was happening. The biggest attack on Moscow targeting the capital with more than 500 drones in more than a year. Russia was also losing territory to Ukraine last month. analysts say It was the first net loss of territory since August 2024.

Xi could use the increasingly unbalanced relationship between the two, with Russia’s economy heavily indebted to China, to help Beijing make gains in energy cooperation at a time when conflicts in the Middle East have limited Beijing’s access to crude oil.

CNN’s Fred He, Darya Tarasova and Ivana Kottasová contributed to this report.

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