Chinese President Xi Jinping will welcome Vladimir Putin to Beijing this Thursday, marking Putin’s first international visit since he began his fifth term earlier in the month.
This visit also marks Putin’s second trip to China since October, further demonstrating the robust relationship between the neighbouring countries.
The Kremlin announced, “At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin will undertake his first foreign trip since taking office with a state visit to China on May 16-17.” Similarly, China’s foreign ministry confirmed on Tuesday afternoon, “Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is set to pay a state visit to China on May 16-17, following an invitation from President Xi Jinping.”
The Kremlin press service announced that a joint statement is anticipated to be signed during the visit, along with a series of bilateral documents between the two sides.
Russian news portal Portamur.ru reports that the two leaders will participate in a gala celebrating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the commencement of the Russian-Chinese Years of Culture, spanning from 2024 to 2025.
During his visit to China, President Vladimir Putin is slated to travel to Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province in northeast China. There, he will inaugurate a China-Russia trade expo and engage with students and faculty at the Harbin Institute of Technology.
Putin’s previous visit to Beijing in October was for a summit of the Belt and Road Initiative, a significant China-led infrastructure venture designed to link Asia with Africa and Europe. His current visit follows closely after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s tour of three European countries. In Paris, meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, Xi committed to not supplying arms to Russia and to regulating the flow of dual-use goods to the Russian military, addressing concerns raised by Western nations.
