Does hosting Putin help or hurt Xi’s bid to project China as a responsible global power?

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to host Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Beijing less than a week after US President Donald Trump’s closely watched visit to China, placing Beijing’s balancing act on full display. As trade tensions, wars and global energy disruptions reshape international politics, China is seeking to project itself as a stable and predictable power. Yet welcoming Putin, while Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on, also risks renewed scrutiny of Beijing’s increasingly close partnership with Moscow. By rolling out the red carpet for two heavily conflicted global figures within days, Xi seeks to project China as an indispensable, stabilizing superpower capable of managing relations with both Washington and Moscow.

Putin arrives on Tuesday for what Chinese officials describe as his 25th visit to China, underlining the depth of ties between the two countries. China and Russia have repeatedly characterised their relationship as an ‘all-weather’ and ‘ironclad’ partnership, with Xi and Putin maintaining regular contact through meetings, calls and personal exchanges.

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A partnership built on strategy and energy

The relationship is underpinned by complementary interests: China’s economic strength and Russia’s vast energy reserves. Moscow has become increasingly reliant on Beijing since Western sanctions cut Russia off from many European markets following the Ukraine conflict. “The Xi-Putin summit will telegraph to the world that the China-Russia strategic partnership remains the cornerstone of both countries’ foreign policies,” Ian Storey of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, told Reuters, adding that any US attempt to divide the two powers was ‘destined to fail’.

Trade between the two countries has more than doubled since 2020, according to the Mercator Institute for China Studies. More than 70 per cent of China’s imports from Russia are mineral fuels, while Russian oil exports to China have risen sharply since 2022. Energy cooperation is expected to dominate this week’s discussions, particularly the proposed Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline. During Putin’s last visit in September 2025, both sides agreed to advance the project, although pricing disputes remain unresolved.

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Beijing’s global messaging challenge

While Beijing has regularly called for talks to end the war in Ukraine, now over four years long, it has never condemned Russia for sending in troops. Thus, it continues to present itself as neutral on Ukraine and insists it has not supplied lethal weapons to either side. “China says it strictly controls exports of dual-use items,” foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday. At the same time, Beijing appears determined to show that its diplomacy will not be shaped by Western pressure. According to AFP, Natasha Kuhrt of King’s College London described the summit as “a reminder to Washington that this is a solid relationship of 30 years-plus standing”.

For Xi, the optics are carefully calibrated: projecting China as a force for global stability while preserving one of its most strategically important partnerships.