China's moment? Putin heads to Beijing after Trump courts Xi
Key takeaways
- Just days after hosting Donald Trump, China's Xi Jinping is set to welcome Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
- The agenda is expected to include bilateral economic and trade issues, as well as discussions on international and regional affairs.
- Amid Moscow's isolation from the West over its invasion of Ukraine, China has become Russia's largest trading partner by far, supplying more than a third of its imports and buying more than a quarter of Russian exports.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Just days after hosting Donald Trump, China's Xi Jinping is set to welcome Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The meetings underscore Beijing's growing, central role in a fractured geopolitical landscape.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Dv HGWhen Putin last visited China, Xi welcomed him as an 'old friend' [FILE: September 2025]Image: Sergei Bobylev/TASS/ZUMA/picture alliance Advertisement Ostensibly, Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China this week to meet with his counterpart, Xi Jinping, is taking place to mark the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Sino‑Russian Treaty of Good‑Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation.
But the timing of the trip — just days after US President Donald Trump's state visit to Beijing — is noteworthy, and highlights China's influential position in a geopolitical landscape that is increasingly fractured and marked by great power rivalries.