The Limits on China and Russia’s No Limits Partnership
Despite the warmth on show between Xi and Putin, Beijing has been careful about how far it supports Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk during their meeting on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, October 17, 2023. Credit: Sergey Savostyanov/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP Images
As eyes across the world turned to renewed turmoil in the Middle East last week, two ‘old friends’ were holding a meeting in Beijing with major geopolitical significance.
On a rare trip abroad since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Vladimir Putin was received with fanfare after he journeyed to the Belt and Road Summit. The Russian leader met with President Xi Jinping, reaffirming the ‘no-limits’ partnership between the two men’s nations while displaying a united force against Western power.
Political rhetoric is not the only thing binding Russia and China together: economic ties between the two countries have reached record levels in recent months, despite a global sanctions regime aimed at isolating Russia from the world economy. From January to September of 2023, Sino-Russian bilateral trade totalled $176 billion, according to Chinese customs data, up more than 120 percent compared to the same period in 2020.
[China is] balancing a perceived need to be supp
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