Ahead of Putin’s visit, Chinese media cast Sino-Russia ties as a source of ‘stability’ in global turmoil
State news agency Xinhua on Sunday (May 17) said relations between China and Russia will always remain “as unshakeable as a mountain amid wind and rain”.
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin walks with China's President Xi Jinping before a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on Sep 3, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Pool/Alexander Kazakov)
SINGAPORE: Ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit on Tuesday (May 19), Chinese state media reported that China-Russia ties remain “unshakeable” in the face of a “complex and volatile” world.
State news agency Xinhua on Sunday reported that over the past decade, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin have maintained “close communication” in various ways.
“Head-of-state diplomacy is the greatest advantage and fundamental guarantee for high-level development of China-Russia relations,” the report stated.
It added that in the face of a “complex and volatile international situation” and under the “strategic guidance” of the two leaders, China-Russia relations will “provide the world with stability and certainty”.
Putin’s visit comes just four days after US President Donald Trump’s two-day trip to Beijing, which Xi described as a “milestone visit” that established a relationship of “constructive strategic stability”.
“PRACTICAL COOPERATION”
According to Xinhua, “practical cooperation” is the driving force behind China-Russia relations, and cooperation between the two countries in various fields has remained “strong despite countless trials and blows”.
Bilateral trade between China and Russia has exceeded the US$200 billion mark for three consecutive years, Xinhua reported. Meanwhile, emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, aerospace, green economy and cross-border e-commerce are also flourishing.
Latest data released by China’s Ministry of Commerce showed that China-Russia trade reached US$227.9 billion in 2025, and China remained Russia’s largest trading partner for the 16th consecutive year.
Data also showed that bilateral trade between China and Russia reached US$85.2 billion in the first four months of 2026, up 19.7 per cent year on year.
After Beijing began visa-free entry to Russian citizens in September - and with reciprocal travel now running both ways since December - Suifenhe has become frontline testing grounds of warming Chinese-Russian ties.
CNA visits the border town to find out how geopolitics are playing out.
The report stated that both countries “coordinate with and support each other on the international stage”, showing the world that “the right path is more evident against adverse currents”.
The report added that both countries “jointly encourage” the international community “to uphold fairness and justice … and resolutely safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core and the basic norms of international law”.
“AT THEIR BEST PERIOD IN HISTORY”
State-owned People’s Daily reported that China-Russia relations are “at their best period in history”.
The relationship also set an example for major-country relations characterised by permanent “good neighbourly friendship, comprehensive strategic coordination, and mutually beneficial, win-win cooperation”.
“China and Russia are good neighbours who cannot be moved away from each other, and true friends who stand together through adversity, support each other, and develop together,” the People’s Daily wrote.
The visit also underscores how Beijing and Moscow have strengthened political and economic ties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despite scrutiny from Western countries.
While China has regularly called for talks to end the fighting, it has never condemned Russia for sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and presents itself as a neutral party.
Beijing also denies providing Moscow with weapons and military components for its defence industry, blaming Western countries for prolonging Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II by arming Ukraine instead.
Negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine, brokered by the US, have appeared stalled since the beginning of the US-Israeli war with Iran which broke out on Feb 28.
Moscow has ruled out a ceasefire or comprehensive negotiations with Ukraine unless Kyiv caves to the Kremlin's maximalist demands.
Analysts say that while China wields significant influence over Russia as Moscow’s closest major partner, Beijing has been careful in how it publicly frames the war.
“Publicly, they have to push this narrative that China is not supporting Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, so this is going to be a very careful diplomatic dance where they both support each other's national interests,” said Lyle Morris, a senior fellow for foreign policy and national security at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.
As the world's top buyer of Russian fossil fuels, China has become Moscow's key economic partner, especially since Western countries imposed economic sanctions on Russian oil and gas over the conflict.
Beijing is also seeking to cushion itself against mounting pressure from Washington, including US tech restrictions and broader de-risking efforts targeting China.
“Xi is looking for reliable partners. Russia is arguably China's most reliable partner, and so this is just going to bolster that relationship. I expect major agreements (at the upcoming meeting),” Morris told CNA’s Asia First programme.
He added he expects economic cooperation to dominate the agenda, especially discussions surrounding the planned Power of Siberia 2 pipeline. The project would roughly double the scale of Russia’s natural gas pipeline exports to China and is seen as critical for Moscow as it seeks to recover lost gas revenues from Europe.
