Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday said ties between the two countries have become a stabilising factor for the world and a fine example for other countries, as the two leaders met here amidst mounting pressure over Beijing to scale down support to Moscow over its prolonged war in Ukraine.

Mr. Putin arrived in Beijing on Thursday on his first foreign visit,days after being re-elected for the fifth term in power in the midst of Russia’s raging war with Ukraine.

Welcoming Mr. Putin on his two-day visit, Mr. Xi said celebrating the 75th anniversary of the China-Russia diplomatic ties is a defining theme. “Having lasted three quarters of a century, China-Russia relations have grown from strength-to-strength despite the ups and downs, and have stood the test of changing international landscape,” he said in his talks with Putin whom he regards as a close friend.

“The relationship has become a fine example for major and neighbouring countries to treat each other with respect and candour, and pursue friendship and mutual benefit,” he said, without referring to Russia’s Ukraine war over which the US and EU are increasing pressure on Beijing to use its influence over Moscow to halt it.

Mr. Xi said he and Mr. Putin have met more than 40 times and stayed in close communication, providing strategic guidance that has ensured the sound, steady and smooth development of the relationship.

“The China-Russia relationship today is hard-earned, and the two sides need to cherish and nurture it,” Mr. Xi said.

“Steady development of China-Russia relations is not only in the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples but also conducive to peace, stability and prosperity of the region and the world at large,” he said.

Also Read | Russia’s Putin says world conflicts ‘strengthen’ ties with China

Calling Mr. Xi “my dear friend”, Mr. Putin in his speech said “it is of fundamental importance that relations between Russia and China are not opportunistic and are not directed against anyone”.

“Our cooperation in world affairs today serves as one of the main stabilising factors in the international arena,” he said, according to a report by Russian news agency Tass.

Mr. Putin also said Russia is open to a dialogue on Ukraine.

“We are open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict, including ours,” Mr. Putin was quoted as saying by China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

Russia and China are successfully cooperating in the United Nations, BRICS, SCO and G20, Putin said.

“We are determined to further harmonise integration processes in the Eurasian space, to combine the potential of the Eurasian Economic Community and your, my dear friend, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),” the Russian leader said.

The BRI is a multi-billion-dollar initiative launched by President Xi when he came to power in 2013. It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.

Mr. Putin expressed hope that his current visit would give an additional impetus to the development of the entire complex of bilateral cooperation.

“I would like to emphasise: I am very happy to arrive in China and to meet with you,” Mr. Putin told Mr. Xi.

Also Read | China’s Xi says strong Russia ties a ‘strategic choice’

This is Mr. Putin’s second visit to Beijing since last October.

Soon after Mr. Putin arrived at the historic Great Hall of People, the seat of power of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, Mr. Xi held a welcome ceremony which included a guard of honour by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) contingent.      

After 15 minutes’ ceremony the two leaders, who over the years have become close friends and allies, went in for talks.

Highlighting the significance of Mr. Putin’s visit, Yury Ushakov, the Russian presidential foreign policy aide, said that China was not randomly chosen for Mr. Putin’s first foreign trip, but as a response to a similar gesture of friendship made by Mr. Xi last year after his election for an unprecedented third term.

Mr. Putin has brought a large delegation consisting of five deputy prime ministers, heads of economic, diplomatic and security agencies, as well as heads of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Russian Railways, Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation and the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, Russian news agency Tass reported.

In addition, senior officials from 20 Russian regions are also accompanying Mr. Putin.

The bilateral talks are expected to focus on trade and economic cooperation, besides the strategic environment arising from Mr. Putin’s war over Ukraine, which also brought pressure on China from the US and EU to distance itself from Moscow.

China has become the largest beneficiary of Russia’s oil and gas during the Ukraine war.

Mr. Putin’s visit to China, the second since last October, follows Mr. Xi’s just concluded European Union tour to France, Serbia and Hungary.

In his talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, Mr. Xi pledged that China would not sell arms to Russia and would control the flow of dual-use goods to its military.

 The U.S. too is mounting pressure on China not to sell arms to Russia to further its war in Ukraine.

While Mr. Xi, 70, regards his ties with Mr. Putin, 71, as counter to the U.S.’ increasing hostility towards China, which Beijing says is aimed at countering its rise, there is unease here over Mr. Putin’s continuation of the Ukraine war.

Though Beijing has not publically supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the no-limits China-Russia strategic partnership has come under intense scrutiny from the U.S. and its allies, who have imposed sanctions on Moscow and repeatedly called Beijing to use its leverage to bring the war to an end.

The second stage of Mr. Putin’s two-day state visit to China will take place in the city of Harbin, the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province.

There, Mr. Putin will attend the opening ceremony of the 8th Russian-Chinese Expo and the 4th Russia-China Forum on Interregional Cooperation, and will also meet with the students and teaching staff of the Harbin Institute of Technology.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, Vladimir Putin shake hands during the Belt and Road Forum at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Russian leader Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that world conflicts “strengthen” his country’s relations with China, after talks with Xi Jinping that celebrated their nations’ deepening political and economic ties.

Mr. Putin, on his first trip to a major global power since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, met his “old friend” Mr. Xi in Beijing on the sidelines of a major forum in an event overshadowed by conflict in the Middle East.

At a press conference following the talks, Mr. Putin said that global turmoil served to bring China and Russia even closer together.

“All these outside factors are common threats and they strengthen Russian-Chinese cooperation,” he said.

The Russian leader also said he had “optimism” for the future of the relationship.

Mr. Xi, too, said that “political mutual trust between the two countries is continuously deepening”, according to Xinhua news agency, hailing their “close and effective strategic coordination”.

Mr. Xi noted that he had met with Mr. Putin 42 times in the past decade, saying they had “developed a good working relationship and a deep friendship”.

Mr. Putin was the guest of honour at the summit hosted by Mr. Xi in Beijing this week to celebrate his Belt and Road Initiative, a vast trade and infrastructure project.

International attention has been focused on the Israel-Gaza conflict, which has raged for more than 10 days, and both Russia and China condemned the Tuesday night strike on a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds.

Mr. Putin on Wednesday said the strike was a “tragedy” and showed the need to bring the conflict between Israel and Hamas to an end.

“This is a terrible event… I really hope that this will be a signal that this conflict needs to end as soon as possible,” he said.

China’s Foreign Ministry said it was “shocked by and strongly condemns” the strike, calling for an “immediate ceasefire”.

Earlier, Mr. Xi called for joint efforts by China and Russia to “safeguard international fairness” and “justice”, Xinhua reported.

China is Russia’s largest trading partner, with exchange between the nations reaching a record $190 billion last year, Beijing customs data shows.

And Mr. Xi said on Wednesday it was progressing towards a goal of $200 billion set by the two countries in bilateral meetings this year.

Beijing has drawn criticism from Western countries for its stance on the Ukraine war, on which China insists it is neutral. It has refused to criticise Moscow’s invasion.

Mr. Putin is on a mission to strengthen the already strong bond with his communist neighbour, though experts say Moscow is increasingly the junior partner in the relationship.

In his talks with Mr. Xi, he stressed the importance of “close coordination in foreign policy” in “the current difficult conditions”.

Representatives of 130 countries are in the Chinese capital for the two-day talking shop that wraps up on Wednesday.

Earlier, Mr. Xi said in a speech to the international delegates that his country rejected “economic coercion” and “bloc confrontation”.

In an apparent reference to China’s rivalry with the United States, Mr. Xi said Beijing would not engage in “ideological confrontation, geopolitical games or bloc confrontation”.

“We oppose unilateral sanctions, economic coercion, decoupling and delinking,” Mr. Xi told delegates.

“Viewing the development of others as a threat and economic interdependence as a risk will not make one’s own life any better or one’s own development any faster,” he said.

Instead, Mr. Xi said, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) would seek to “inject new impetus into the global economy”.

He also pledged to inject more than $100 billion of new funding into BRI projects.

Mr. Putin then took to the stage, hailing the infrastructure initiative as a “success story”.

The United States has asked China to use its influence to help de-escalate the Israel-Hamas conflict, which erupted after the Palestinian militant group launched an attack in Israel, killing 1,400 people.

Israel then launched a devastating air campaign against Gaza, which has seen more than a million people in the blockaded territory flee their homes. About 3,000 Gazans have been killed since Israel launched its air campaign, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

China, which brokered a detente between key Hamas backer Iran and its regional foe Saudi Arabia this year, said it would send its Middle East envoy Zhai Jun to the volatile region this week.

No details have been given about where or when exactly Mr. Zhai would travel, though CCTV has said he will push for a ceasefire and peace talks.

Russia, which has traditionally maintained good relations with both Israeli and Palestinian authorities, has called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict.