China has rolled out the red carpet to welcome Russian president Vladimir Putin for a potentially consequential and heavily symbolic state visit that will be closely watched in the West.
Mr Putin’s second visit in less than a year comes as Western nations, led by the US, are putting pressure on China to stop throwing its economic and industrial weight behind Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The two-day trip is Mr Putin’s first abroad since starting his new term as president earlier this month.
Mr Putin arrived in Beijing on Thursday morning to an impressive display of fanfare and hospitality by Chinese president Xi Jinping. He was greeted with a red carpet reception outside the Great Hall of the People where he shook hands and did laps of the foreground with Mr Xi.
The grand reception included special musical arrangements with a marching band playing the classic Red Army choir Moscow Evenings.
Mr Putin is meeting Mr Xi for the fourth time since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022.
The meeting also marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between their countries.
Mr Xi told Mr Putin he was prepared “to consolidate the friendship between the two peoples for generations to come”.
“In the new journey ahead, China is willing to always be Russia’s trustworthy good neighbour, good friend and good partner, strengthening generation-after-generation friendship between the two peoples and jointly achieving rejuvenation of their respective countries as well as upholding justice in the world.”
He congratulated his “old friend” Mr Putin for winning a fifth term as president that will keep him in power until at least 2030.
Mr Putin and Mr Xi are set to discuss ways to strengthen their “no limits” partnership which was announced at a previous meeting between them nearly two years ago.
The West has been testing this partnership by pressuring China to end economic and industrial support that has enabled Russia to blunt the impact of American and European sanctions cutting it off from global markets and supply chains.
China’s bilateral trade with Russia soared by 26 per cent to a record $240bn last year.
Analysts told The Independent that Beijing and Moscow will try to find ways to expand bilateral trade and sidestep Western sanctions.