<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Alexander Kazakov\/Alexander Kazakov\/Pool Sputnik K<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Alexander Kazakov\/Alexander Kazakov\/Pool Sputnik K<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping inspect an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Maxim Shemetov\/Maxim Shemetov\/Pool Reuters via <\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Maxim Shemetov\/Maxim Shemetov\/Pool Reuters via <\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Alexander Kazakov\/Alexander Kazakov\/Pool Sputnik K<\/p>\n
BEIJING (AP) \u2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his close ties with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and said their countries are partners in trade and international affairs as they opened bilateral talks Wednesday on his trip to Beijing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Xi welcomed Putin with a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People only days after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. The quick succession of Trump\u2019s and Putin\u2019s visits highlighted Beijing\u2019s growing role as an international superpower, experts say.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Putin greeted Xi warmly as they met for bilateral talks at the Great Hall of the People.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dear friend,\u201d Putin said. \u201cWe are truly delighted to see you. We keep in constant touch, both personally and through our aides in the government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Xi also stressed the \u201cpolitical mutual trust and strategic cooperation\u201d between the countries, according to Chinese state media. The two leaders have praised each other profusely in the past, with Xi at one point describing Putin as his \u201cbest and most intimate friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Energy purchases top meeting\u2019s agenda<\/p>\n
Xi and Putin were set to focus on energy and security as well as their overall ties. The two sides agreed to extend a friendship treaty first signed in 2001, Chinese state media reported.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
China became Russia\u2019s top trading partner after Moscow\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Beijing has said it is neutral in the conflict while maintaining trade ties with the Kremlin despite economic and financial sanctions by the U.S. and Europe.<\/p>\n
China is the top customer for Russian oil and gas supplies, and Moscow expects the war in Iran to increase the demand.<\/p>\n
In his meeting with Xi, Putin stressed their countries\u2019 economic ties.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cThe driving force behind economic cooperation is Russian-Chinese collaboration in the energy sector,\u201d Putin said. \u201cAmid the crisis in the Middle East, Russia continues to maintain its role as a reliable supplier of resources, while China remains a responsible consumer of these resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
Xi stressed the need of \u201ccomplete cessation of hostilities\u201d in the Middle East, according to Chinese state media.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn early end to the conflict will help reduce disruptions to energy supply stability, the smooth flow of industrial and supply chains, and international trade order,\u201d Xi said.<\/p>\n
A Russian presidential aide said earlier Russia\u2019s oil exports to China grew by 35% in the first quarter of 2026 and that Russia is one of the biggest exporters of natural gas to China.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Xi and Putin show a united front on international affairs<\/p>\n
Putin also stressed China and Russia\u2019s cooperation in foreign policy as \u201cone of the key stabilizing factors on the international stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the current tense situation on the international stage, our close cooperation is particularly in demand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In February 2022, just weeks before Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia announced a \u201cno limits\u201d partnership during a trip by Putin to Beijing.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Beijing says it is neutral in the conflict, though in practice it supports Moscow through frequent state visits, growing trade and joint military drills. China has also ignored demands from the West to stop providing high-tech components for Russia\u2019s weapons industries.<\/p>\n
Image-making visit<\/p>\n
The two leaders are scheduled to sign cooperation agreements during Putin\u2019s two-day visit.<\/p>\n
But regardless of specific deals, the primary purpose of the visit is to reaffirm the countries\u2019 ties as well as project Beijing\u2019s image as an influential superpower, experts say.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cThe optics matter,\u201d said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message is clearly one that China maintains friendship and strategic partnership with whichever power it likes, and the USA is just one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Putin and Xi both need to use their close ties in order to prop up their images at home, said Willy Lam, a senior China fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.<\/p>\n
Putin \u201cneeds to tell his countrymen and the world that Russia has China\u2019s support in terms of buying its oil and gas and other tangible and intangible financial support,\u201d Lam said.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, for Xi, having both Trump and Putin visit in such close succession is a major source of credit with the country\u2019s top Communist leadership.<\/p>\n
Putin noted earlier this month that Moscow and Beijing have reached \u201ca very substantial step forward in our cooperation in the oil and gas sector.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPractically all the key issues have been agreed upon,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we succeed in finalizing these details and bringing them to a conclusion during this visit, I will be extremely pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n
Putin also praised their bilateral relationship as a crucial, balancing force in international relations.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cInteraction between such nations as China and Russia undoubtedly serves as a factor of deterrence and stability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Moscow welcomes China\u2019s dialogue with the U.S. as another stabilizing element for the global economy, Putin added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stand only to benefit from this, from the stability and constructive engagement between the U.S. and China,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Mistreanu reported from Bangkok.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9056,9047,109396,145,103669,23681,59373,84874,59371,84875,86165,61262,82,84,83,109398,88437,109397,88261],"class_list":["post-301010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-beijing","tag-china","tag-china-russia-putin-xi","tag-donald-trump","tag-moscow","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","tag-product-30597-ap-business-news-f-wire","tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","tag-product-31995-ap-online-general-financial-business-news","tag-product-31997-ap-online-asia-news","tag-product-46986-ap-online-top-stories","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-steve-tsang","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-willy-lam","tag-xi-jinping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}