Zhao Long Interviewed by South China Morning Post

Zhao Long    source：South China Morning Post

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to the Chinese capital next week to reinforce the Sino-Russian “comprehensive strategic partnership”, just days after a tentative US-China reset.

Beijing and Moscow announced on Saturday that Putin would visit from May 19 to 20, confirming an earlier report by the South China Morning Post.

“At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a state visit to China from May 19 to 20,” state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the foreign ministry.

During the trip, Putin and Xi would discuss how to “further strengthen the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation” between Moscow and Beijing, the Kremlin said.

The two leaders were also expected to “exchange views on key international and regional issues” and sign a joint declaration at the conclusion of their talks, it added.

As part of the visit, Putin is also scheduled to hold separate talks on economic and trade cooperation with Premier Li Qiang.

Putin has made more than 20 trips to China and has met Xi more than 40 times. The Kremlin said on Friday that preparations for the visit, Putin’s first foreign trip of the year, were completed.

The trip will take place less than a week after US President Donald Trump’s visit to China and observers said the rapid back-to-back summits showed Beijing’s efforts to engage both Washington and Moscow amid global uncertainties and persistent tensions, including the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

Zhao Long, a senior research fellow at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies,described Putin’s visit as “a key window of opportunity” for bilateral ties.

He pointed out that 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the China-Russia strategic partnership and the 25th anniversary of the Treaty of Good‑Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation.

“Putin’s visit is expected to address the treaty’s renewal and, at this historic juncture, explore how to carry out cooperation at a higher strategic level to respond to external turbulence and change, and to deepen pragmatic cooperation,” he said.

Zhao downplayed the sequencing with Trump’s trip, calling it largely “a coincidence in timing” due to the postponement of the US president’s China trip from March.