Chinese leader Xi Jinping and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin opened talks in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese state media reported.
Xi greeted Putin outside the Great Hall of the People, shaking hands before the two leaders entered for their summit, video released by Russian outlets showed.
Ahead of the meeting, the pair walked down a red carpet rolled out for the Russian leader and stood as a military band played the national anthems of China and Russia.
Putin began the talks by praising the “strong, positive” momentum in bilateral cooperation, telling Xi that “even amid unfavourable external factors, our cooperation and economic cooperation is showing strong, positive momentum,” according to Russian media.
Al Jazeera reports that the contrast between Putin’s visit and the recently concluded trip by US President Donald Trump. Putin, she said, is marking 25 years of Sino‑Russian friendship, has visited China dozens of times, and met Xi more than 40 times.
“So this visit will really be about deepening existing coordination and cooperation,” Yu said.
She added that the two sides are expected to update each other on the Middle East and Ukraine, and Xi will likely brief Putin on last week’s talks with Trump.
Putin is accompanied by a large delegation of Russian businesspeople and government officials, with the Kremlin announcing that the leaders will sign about 40 agreements covering areas from the economy and tourism to education.
“But I think for Putin, the main topic of discussion with Xi Jinping is going to be on energy security,” Yu said.
“Since the war in Ukraine, any gas sales that were previously heading to Europe have dried up, and Russia is in desperate need of revenue to replace that, especially since we are in the fifth year of the Ukraine war.”
