On Monday, March 20, the state visit to Russia of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will visit the country at the invitation of Vladimir Putin, will begin, the Kremlin said.

"During the talks, topical issues of further development of relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction between Russia and China will be discussed," the release says. - An exchange of views is also planned in the context of deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation in the international arena. A number of important bilateral documents will be signed."

Later, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, said that on March 20, during an informal dinner, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping would talk tete-a-tete, and on the 21st there would be a "day of negotiations."

In turn, the assistant to the head of state Yuri Ushakov revealed some details of the upcoming visit. According to him, during the talks, the leaders of the two countries will discuss, among other things, the situation in Ukraine and issues of military-technical cooperation. Two main documents are expected to be signed: a declaration on deepening partnership and strategic cooperation, as well as a joint statement on the plan for the development of key areas of bilateral economic cooperation until 2030. In addition, Ushakov said that on March 20, articles by the leaders of the two countries on relations between China and Russia will be published.

At the highest level

The upcoming visit of the President of the People's Republic of China was also commented on by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The official representative of the department, Wang Wenbin, said at a press briefing that Xi Jinping's trip to Russia will contribute to the promotion of strategic cooperation and practical interaction between the states.

"Chairman Xi's trip will be a cooperation visit: it will strengthen bilateral cooperation in a number of areas to achieve greater harmony and cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union, and will also help both countries achieve their respective development goals," he said.

The Chinese diplomat stressed that the leaders will discuss important global and regional issues, noting that relations between Moscow and Beijing are of great importance in the face of increasing instability in the international arena. Xi Jinping also intends to discuss in detail with Vladimir Putin the build-up of practical cooperation between the two countries, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

"During this visit, President Xi will hold a detailed exchange of views with President Putin on bilateral relations, major international and regional issues of mutual interest, strengthen strategic coordination and practical cooperation between the two countries, and give a new impetus to the expansion of bilateral ties," Wang Wenbin explained.

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The official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry praised Russian-Chinese relations, adding that they are based on a solid foundation and have great potential and space for development.

"In recent years, President Xi Jinping and President Putin have maintained close contacts. They set the course and benchmark for ensuring sustainable, reliable and stable growth within the framework of the Sino-Russian relations of comprehensive strategic partnership and interaction entering a new era," Wang Wenbin stressed.

Recall that since his election as President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping has visited Russia several times. He first arrived in Moscow on March 22, 2013, a week after taking office, and in September, the leaders met ahead of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg. In 2015, Xi Jinping took part in the celebrations on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, and two months later the heads of state met in Ufa. In 2018, the President of the People's Republic of China visited the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. The previous visit took place in 2019, when the Chinese leader first arrived in Moscow, and then visited the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Over the past ten years, a number of meetings of heads of state have been held in China. In 2014, the leaders held talks on the eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Beijing. In 2016, Vladimir Putin twice visited China on official visits: to meet with the President of the People's Republic of China and to participate in the G20 summit in Hangzhou. In May 2017, the president arrived in Beijing to participate in the One Belt, One Road forum, and in September, the BRICS summit was held in Xiamen. In 2018, Putin's visit to China took place, and in 2019 , the events of the second international forum "One Belt - One Road". Finally, in February 2022, the Russian leader attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing and held talks with Xi Jinping. The two leaders last met face-to-face at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand last September.

Russia has repeatedly noted that in recent years, bilateral relations with the PRC have reached an unprecedented high level. In particular, in February, at the government hour in the State Duma, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this. In his speech, he noted that Moscow and Beijing are "vigorously working" to strengthen the strategic partnership, "which has reached a historically unprecedentedly high and trusting level."

"The foreign policy link between Moscow and Beijing cements the foundation of the emerging polycentric architecture, serves as a balancing and stabilizing factor in world affairs," Lavrov stressed.

At the same time, the head of Russian diplomacy noted that, like the Russian Federation, China is under pressure for its commitment to a multipolar world order.

"China is imposing sanctions on chips/semiconductors, wanting to prevent it from getting ahead. They are trying to "raise" Taiwan (two or three producers) in order to "belittle" China in this economic competition. This process (the formation of a multipolar world. – RT) is a historical epoch. Not to "shut down" in one day what is happening between China and the United States, China and the EU. That's a trillion-dollar investment. To cut them off overnight is to create enormous hardships for the people. The West is going for it. They don't care," Lavrov said.

  • Xi Jinping at the CPC Plenary Congress
  • Gettyimages.ru
  • © Lintao Zhang

They highly appreciate the level of relations with Russia in China. Thus, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang at a press conference on March 7 noted that the connection between Moscow and Beijing is an important guarantor of global stability, while Washington's "lost common sense" policy is pushing the world towards disaster.

"The more stability is lacking in the world, the more important it is to strengthen Russian-Chinese ties," the minister stressed.

Qin Gang added that Russia and China showed the world by their example how to build strategic good-neighborly ties, and proposed a new type of interstate interaction. "These relations will continue to develop and rise to new heights," the Foreign Minister expressed confidence.

Closest Partner

In an interview with RT, the head of the HSE School of Oriental Studies, Andrei Karneev, noted that Xi Jinping's visit to Russia had been planned since the beginning of the year.

"This visit is a confirmation of the Russian-Chinese comprehensive strategic partnership. There is a lot of speculation in the world media about the arrival of Xi Jinping, but first of all this visit will be evidence that cooperation between Russia and China stands the test of time. It provides an opportunity for the parties to exchange views on a wide range of issues on the international agenda, on the situation in world politics, as well as to discuss bilateral ties in trade, economic, cultural and other fields, "the interlocutor told RT.

  • President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping at the Congress of the Communist Party of China
  • Gettyimages.ru
  • © Lintao Zhang

A similar point of view was expressed by the head of the sector of economics and politics of China of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies of the IMEMO RAS Sergey Lukonin. At the same time, the political scientist recalled that this trip will be the first foreign visit of the President of the People's Republic of China after he was re-elected for a third term.

"This underlines the special status of Sino-Russian relations. They have both breakthroughs and certain difficulties. However, in general, everything is fine, and the movement towards a multipolar world continues," the expert said.

The arrival of the Chinese leader is also especially important in the context of unprecedented restrictions imposed by the collective West against the Russian Federation, Sergei Lukonin believes.

"The fact that the leader of the second economy of the world is coming to us once again emphasizes that the policy of sanctions is unsuccessful. Another significance of Xi Jinping's visit is that our strategic partnership with China is developing and no one has driven a wedge between us. At the same time, Xi Jinping's visit to Russia is important for Beijing itself. China is just as much in a state of active competition with the United States as Russia. And the current visit of the Chinese leader demonstrates that the Russian Federation is China's closest partner in this confrontation," the political scientist said.

Moreover, the trends that have developed in China in relation to the Russian Federation are not changing, Lukonin emphasized.

"China similarly views Russia as its closest partner. This visit just emphasizes that, despite the reshuffle in the leadership of the PRC, with the exception of President Xi Jinping, there will be no serious changes in relation to the Russian Federation, but the policy of expanding cooperation will be continued, "the RT interlocutor concluded.