(Bloomberg) — Chinese President Xi Jinping flagged for Vladimir Putin that ties between the two nations remain strong as the Russian leader begins a new term with the war in Ukraine dragging into its third year.
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Xi said his nation is “ready to work with Russia as a good neighbor, friend and partner with mutual trust,” state broadcaster China Central Television reported Thursday after the two met in Beijing. He added that he is prepared “to consolidate friendship between the two peoples in the coming generations”.
Putin said that cooperation “is one of the main factors of stabilization in the international arena,” according to a video posted on a Kremlin social media account. “Together we defend the principles of justice and a democratic world order that reflects multipolar realities and a world order based on international law.”
The two leaders’ comments underline the close relationship that has developed between their nations in recent years. The pair declared an “unlimited friendship” just weeks before Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and have met more than 40 times since Xi came to power in 2012.
Putin wants the visit to ensure that the economic and trade support China has provided since it attacked Ukraine in early 2022 remains intact. The US has warned China about its trade with Russia, threatening to sanction banks that cross red lines.
The world’s second-largest economy has become an indispensable ally of Russia, which depends on China as a market for its energy and a supplier of its wartime needs. This has put Putin in a sometimes awkward position, with Beijing wary of its nuclear attacks and aware of the need to maintain unfettered access to the US-led global economic system.
Driven by Russian oil and gas sales and purchases of electronics, industrial equipment and automobiles, Moscow’s trade with China reached a record $240 billion in 2023, more than double the 2020 figure.
Read more: GLOBAL INSIGHT: The limits of the Xi-Putin No-Limits partnership
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The visit comes just days after Putin named Andrey Belousov, an economist and technocrat, as his new defense minister, replacing former Sergei Shoigu, in a sign that the Russian leader sees a protracted conflict ahead.
In recent weeks, the US has intensified warnings to Chinese banks and exporters about the consequences if they help bolster Russia’s military capabilities.
In December, the Treasury Department announced it would impose secondary sanctions on banks that facilitate deals in which Russia purchases semiconductors, ball bearings and other equipment needed for its military — even if they don’t know they are doing so.
Despite growing economic ties, China’s exports to Russia fell 13% in April from a year earlier, the second consecutive month of annual decline, according to Chinese customs data. Russian media reported that Chinese banks began in late March blocking payments from companies in Russia that buy components for electronic assembly.
(Updates with comments from Putin and more context from second paragraph.)
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