A vaunted ‘new era’ of strategic partnership between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping began in Beijing on Thursday, marked by rare displays of warmth between the two leaders.
This partnership comes as Russia increasingly relies on its trade relationship with China amidst Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine. China, meanwhile, continues to challenge U.S. dominance in areas ranging from quantum computing to military power.
In a notable departure from his typically reserved demeanor, President Xi hugged Putin twice during their meeting at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing.
The embrace, captured on footage by state broadcaster CCTV, gained traction on social media, showing the leaders concluding an informal tea and dinner event, which was a key session of Putin’s two-day visit to China. Aides and officials applauded as the leaders displayed their camaraderie.
Putin’s visit to China culminated in the signing of a detailed statement that emphasized their mutual opposition to a U.S.-led world order and pledged cooperation in various sectors, including space, nuclear technologies, finance, and manufacturing. Xi underscored the importance of the China-Russia relationship, stating, “The China-Russia relationship is hard earned, and the two sides need to cherish and nurture it.” Putin described their discussions as “warm and comradely.”
After the meeting in Beijing, Putin traveled to Harbin, a city in northeastern China with significant Russian influence, before heading back to Moscow. Despite the visible warmth between Xi and Putin, their embrace fell short of the symbolic “socialist fraternal kiss” that Soviet leaders like Leonid Brezhnev famously exchanged during the Cold War.
Nonetheless, the meeting underscored the strengthening ties between China and Russia amid geopolitical tensions with the West.
