The Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing next month, the Kremlin has confirmed. Discussions will take place during the backdrop of the Belt and Road Initiative Forum, the first China has hosted for four years. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the BRI.
Putin said at a meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi yesterday (September 20) “I was pleased to accept the invitation from the president of the People’s Republic of China to visit China in October this year, as part of events to promote President Xi Jinping’s idea that already has the Belt and Road international brand. This fully meets Russia’s interests and integrates our ideas of creating a large Eurasian space, while also meeting the interests of China.”
Wang has been holding four days of meetings with Putin directly in Moscow this week. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov is attending the United Nations summit in New York.
Speaking at a meeting with Putin in Saint Petersburg, Wang said “The world is rapidly moving toward multipolarity. Economic globalization is progressing against headwinds, unilateral actions are unsustainable, and hegemonism is not popular. Both China and Russia need to strengthen their multilateral strategic cooperation, protect their legitimate rights and interests, and make new efforts to promote the international order toward fairness and justice.”
Putin, in response, said “Our positions coincide regarding the emergence of a multipolar world.”
China and Russia describe each other as strategic allies, with both countries frequently touting their “no limits” partnership and economic and military cooperation. Putin last met with Xi in March in Moscow. Our report and analysis on those discussions is here.
Neither the specific date or other leaders expected to attend the October event have yet been revealed, although China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said last week that Beijing was in “communication with all parties concerned about the preparation for the forum” and will release relevant information at a later time.
First proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative has established more than 3,000 cooperation projects and mobilized nearly US$1 trillion of investment over the past decade. More than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations have signed cooperation documents with China under the BRI.
Chinese investments into Russia have been accelerating as the country imports increasing volumes of energy, fertilizers, and grains from Russia, with bilateral trade expected to exceed US$200 billion this year.