BEIJING, MAY 20: China and Russia’s leaders lauded on Wednesday progress in their strategic ties at a summit in Beijing, but despite the warm exchanges the talks did not appear to signal a breakthrough in a gas deal that has been under negotiation for more than a decade.

President Xi Jinping welcomed President Vladimir Putin with an honor guard and a gun salute at the Great Hall of the People, as children waved Chinese and Russian flags. Alongside formal talks, the pair are expected to cap the day with an intimate meeting over tea.

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Coming on the heels of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Chinese capital, the optics and outcomes of the summit between the Chinese and Russian leaders were being closely watched.

Xi said the countries should focus on long-term strategy and promote a “more just and reasonable” global governance system, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

“China-Russia relations have reached this level because we have been able to deepen political mutual trust and strategic cooperation,” Xi said at the start of his meeting with Putin. Putin said after the talks that Russian Chinese ties had “reached a truly unprecedented level and continue to develop.”

The Russian leader said the two countries were actively cooperating in energy and that his nation remained a reliable energy supplier amid Middle East disruption.

Putin also invited Xi to visit Russia next year.

Power of Siberia 2 pipeline
Moscow had signaled ahead of the visit that it was seeking further energy agreements with China, the largest buyer of Russian oil, including pipeline supplies and sea-borne shipments.

During Putin’s last visit in September 2025, Russian gas giant Gazprom said both sides had agreed to move forward with a second pipeline, the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline.

The planned 2,600-km (1,616-mile) system is expected to carry 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year to China through Mongolia from the Arctic gas fields of Yamal, complementing the existing Power of Siberia 1 pipeline.

China has said very little publicly about the project, and while Xi said on Wednesday that cooperation in energy and resource connectivity should be the “ballast stone” in China-Russia relations, he did not mention the pipeline.

Key issues such as gas pricing remain unresolved, and analysts expect negotiations could take years.

The Kremlin said both sides reached a “general understanding on the parameters” of the project, although no details or clear timeline were agreed.

Comparing ceremonies
The Kremlin has set “serious expectations” for Putin’s visit, which also includes a banquet followed by a tea where the two leaders will discuss key international issues in an informal setting.

Xi is known for hosting visiting leaders over tea, but the setting and manner of such encounters can be viewed as a signal of the Chinese leader’s regard for his guest.

When Xi hosted Putin for talks in May 2024, the pair ditched their ties as they spoke over tea outdoors in Zhongnanhai, a former imperial garden that now houses the offices of the ruling Communist Party and the government.

In contrast, Trump’s stroll through a secret garden and tea with Xi in the same compound, as well as a tour of the Temple of Heaven last week, appeared more choreographed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that there was no point comparing the ceremony in China for the visits of Putin and Trump, and that people should focus on the content.

As Xi and Putin began their meeting, China’s commerce ministry confirmed a purchase of 200 Boeing jets that was announced by Washington following the Trump-Xi summit, signaling China’s desire to stabilize economic and trade ties with the US independent of its commitments with Russia.

Beijing will also seek an extension of the trade truce with the U.S. and push for reciprocal tariff cuts on $30 billion or more of goods each, the ministry said.

‘Law of the jungle’
The so-called “no limits” partnership between China and Russia has strengthened since the West imposed sanctions to punish Russia for the war in Ukraine.

Xi and Putin witnessed the signing of 20 cooperation documents and about 20 more were expected to be signed, according to the Kremlin.

Both sides jointly signed a statement on strengthening comprehensive strategic coordination and a declaration advocating multi-polarity in the world order.

“The global agenda of peace and development is facing new risks and challenges, with the danger of fragmentation of the international community and a drift back toward the ‘law of the jungle’,” a joint declaration said, according to the Kremlin.

The symbolism behind any joint statement and agreements alone will be significant regardless of substance, said Patricia Kim, a foreign policy fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

“It would reinforce the message that the China-Russia partnership remains strong, institutionalized, and coordinated across a broad range of strategic issues,” she added.

Putin, who has called Xi a “dear friend” and been labelled an “old friend” by the Chinese leader, visits at a time when bilateral trade is improving after a downturn last year.