Putin in China: 30 years of a “coordinated strategic partnership”

We must look in more detail at this visit, the twenty-fifth, by the Russian leader to China. Since the year 1996 when the coordinated strategic partnership was celebrated, until the recent announcement of a “partnership without limits”, the world has changed in an unprecedented sense. Firstly, the material base of the countries of the Global South has reached a new level, requiring changes in global governance and its institutions, which have still remained practically intact since the end of the Second World War. China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and other countries have undergone intense development processes, while the Global North has lost the ability to keep up with the speed of events.

The 2008 financial crisis made clear the shortcomings of global governance not only in avoiding major economic crises, but also in reinventing itself in the face of a changing world. The emergence of BRICS and the New Development Bank was a response to this challenge. And relations between China and Russia have become, amid increasing global turbulence, a true anchor of stability and a paradigm for a multipolar order and diplomacy based on respect for sovereignty.

The relationship between China and Russia is marked by the maturity and resilience of a partnership defined by mutual respect for each side’s core interests and main concerns, as well as mutually beneficial cooperation, while both pursue development paths suited to their own national conditions. The truth is that guided by the leadership and strategic visions of the two heads of state, relations between the two countries have been continually advancing to higher levels and expanding to broader dimensions, serving as a model for relations between great powers in the new era. Since 2013, the two leaders have met more than 40 times on bilateral and multilateral occasions.

In an increasingly unstable world, President Putin’s words upon his arrival in China attract attention. According to the Russian president, “regular mutual visits and talks at the highest level between Russia and China are an important and integral part of our joint efforts to promote relations in all aspects between our two countries and unleash their truly unlimited potential.”

There are two examples of this. 1) The stability of this relationship can be seen in the promotion of intense cultural exchanges, further strengthening mutual understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries. The “China-Russia Years of Education”, which began this year, is expected to feature hundreds of exchange events, continuing the success of previous thematic years dedicated to culture, sports and scientific and technological innovation; and 2) mutual visa-free policies significantly facilitated exchanges between the populations of the two countries. According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, more than 150,000 Chinese tourists visited Russia in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 44.4% compared to the previous year, while Russian travel to China grew by 33.6% in 2025.

From the perspective of foreign trade, we highlight that bilateral trade has reached record levels. The two countries move around US$230 billion annually, with more than 99% of transactions settled directly in rubles and yuan. And it is in this form of trade based on a local currency that lies, perhaps, the most strategic character of the bilateral relationship as the dollar has become a real weapon against many countries in the Global South, including Russia. The paradigm of trading in local currencies gains great momentum with China and Russia operating outside the dollar system.

From an international point of view, one of the characteristics of this relationship is the support for strengthening the United Nations (UN) as the central hub of global governance to the detriment of the policy of force and imposition of sanctions and other forms of unilateral coercion. Multipolarity is the opposite of the current state of affairs in the international order. China and Russia demonstrate that history must prevail and that a more just world guided by the general interests of countries and peoples can come to fruition.

In this sense, Xi Jinping’s words are wise in the message sent to Putin to congratulate the arrival of the new year 2025: “Faced with the rapidly evolving global scenario and the turbulent international situation, China and Russia always work together, treading the correct path of non-alignment, non-confrontation and which does not target third parties.”

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Written in cooperation with China Media Group