By Liz Lee and Ethan Wang
BEIJING, May 20 (Reuters) – China and Russia’s leaders are set to meet for a summit in Beijing on Wednesday featuring discussions on bilateral and international issues, capped by an intimate tete-a-tete between “old friends” over tea.
Coming on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the Chinese capital, the optics and outcomes of the meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be closely scrutinised and compared.
Xi is known for hosting visiting leaders over tea, but the setting and manner of such encounters can be viewed as a signal of the Chinese leader’s regard for his guest.
When Xi hosted Putin for talks in May 2024, the pair ditched their ties as they spoke over tea outdoors in Zhongnanhai, a former imperial garden that now houses the offices of the ruling Communist Party and the government.
In contrast, Trump’s stroll through a secret garden and tea with Xi in the same compound, as well as a tour of the Temple of Heaven last week, appeared more choreographed.
“Beijing is loving the optics of this. They’re loving being the centre of world attention, and they will be playing it for their domestic audience for all that it’s worth,” said Graeme Smith, a senior fellow at the Australian National University’s Pacific Affairs department.
“In some ways, Xi is benefiting from the emotional instability of both those world leaders,” he said, referencing Trump’s penchant for pomp and Putin’s long-time show of camaraderie with Xi.
The rare back-to-back visits to Beijing by the leaders of two major countries deeply at odds with each other politically, militarily and economically have been hailed by Chinese state media as recognition of China’s global standing in an increasingly fragmented world order.
Putin was greeted by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi when he landed on Tuesday evening, with an honour guard alongside Chinese youths waving China and Russia’s national flags in a welcome ceremony on the tarmac.
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
Putin, who has called Xi a “dear friend” and been labelled an “old friend” by the Chinese leader, arrives at a time when bilateral trade is improving after a downturn last year. Two-way trade rose 16.1% in the first four months of this year over the same period in 2025 in value terms.
Trade between China and Russia was worth 1.63 trillion yuan ($240 billion) in 2025, down 6.5% from a record in 2024 and marking the first decline in five years.
Putin has acknowledged the need to reverse the downtrend, a nod to China’s importance as an economic lifeline for sanctions-hit Moscow as the war in Ukraine takes a toll on its economy. He is accompanied by a delegation including deputy prime ministers, ministers and heads of state corporations and major banks.
The Kremlin has set “serious expectations” for Putin’s visit, which, alongside talks, will include a signing ceremony and a banquet followed by a tea where the two leaders will discuss key international issues in an informal setting.
Some 40 documents are expected to be signed and a 47-page joint statement on their strengthening partnership will be issued, according to the Kremlin.
Putin and Xi are also expected to adopt a joint declaration on establishing a multipolar world order and a “new type of international relations”, a Kremlin aide said.
Negotiations on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which is due to link Russia to northern China, are also likely to be on the cards, industry experts said.
The so-called “no limits” partnership between China and Russia has strengthened since the West imposed sanctions to punish Russia for the war in Ukraine.
Energy supply shortages linked to the conflict in Iran may back Russia’s case for the pipeline as a long-term gas source, but Beijing may want to stick to its supply diversification strategy.
($1 = 6.8012 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Liz Lee and Ethan Wang; Additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin in MoscowEditing by Ed Davies)
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