Episode Details

"Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar?" Confucius once said.

The ancient Chinese saying offers a fitting note as China welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for his 14th visit to the country since 2013.

Putin used the same phrase when recalling his first meeting with Xi Jinping, then Chinese vice-president, in Moscow in March 2010. The meeting, he wrote in a signed article published in People's Daily in 2023, was held in a "business-like and at the same time sincere and friendly" atmosphere — a style of communication that he said he personally liked.

Three years following the early encounter, Xi chose Russia as the destination of his first overseas trip after taking office as Chinese president in 2013, underscoring the special weight of China-Russia relations in China's foreign policy.

During that visit, President Xi said that a high-level and strong China-Russia relationship serves not only the interests of both countries, but also the international strategic balance as well as world peace and stability.

More than a decade later, the two leaders are meeting again at another important moment.

Putin's two-day state visit, at the invitation of Xi, comes in a landmark year marking the 30th anniversary of the China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination and the 25th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation.

"China-Russia relations are standing at a new historical starting point. The two sides are entering a golden period of opportunity marked by stronger political trust, deeper economic integration, closer people-to-people ties and greater global influence," said Li Yonghui, a research fellow of Russian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

She said that Putin's visit is not only a review of decades of neighborly friendship and strategic coordination, but also an opportunity for the two sides to plan the next stage of cooperation under the guidance of the two heads of state.

Andrey Denisov, first deputy chair of the Russian Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs and former Russian ambassador to China, said that Putin's upcoming visit will once again demonstrate the high level and stability of Russia-China relations.

He said Russia-China relations are not an alliance in the traditional sense, but the two sides maintain a high degree of mutual trust and close coordination on major international issues, which he described as the essence of the relationship.

The momentum of China-Russia ties has been shaped by more than a decade of frequent head-of-state diplomacy. Since 2013, Xi has visited Russia 11 times, while Putin has traveled to China 13 times for state visits or major events. Last year, the two leaders paid state visits to each other's countries, underscoring the intensity and continuity of top-level exchanges.

In a signed article published in Russian media in 2023, Xi said that high-level interactions have played an important strategic guiding role in China-Russia relations.

Xi noted that he and Putin had maintained close working contact and met 40 times on bilateral and international occasions, drawing blueprints for bilateral ties and cooperation in various fields, and maintaining timely coordination on major international and regional issues of common concern.

In his New Year greetings exchanged with Putin on Dec 31, 2025, Xi said he was ready to maintain close contact with Putin and jointly lead China-Russia relations in the new era toward new achievements.

During a virtual meeting on Feb 4 this year, Xi noted that the day coincided with the Beginning of Spring on the Chinese calendar, which represents a new start, and expressed his readines