CGTN published an article highlighting how China and Russia are deepening strategic coordination, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to China. By combining trade data, historical context and expert analysis, the piece emphasizes the resilience of bilateral ties and their role in promoting a multipolar world order.
Bilateral trade has topped $200 billion for three consecutive years; more than 70% of China-Europe freight trains now pass through Russia en route to Europe; ten China-Russia Expos have been held; over 170 pairs of sister cities and provinces have been established, reflecting the growing depth and breadth of bilateral cooperation. In recent years, China-Russia collaboration has expanded across multiple sectors, yielding tangible results.
On Wednesday, the two heads of state once again witnessed the signing of multiple cooperation documents covering trade, education, technology and other areas during Putin’s state visit to China, fueling a new era of partnership between the two neighboring major countries.
During their meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that China-Russia relations have now reached the highest level in history as a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era and that the two sides should seize the momentum to align China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) with Russia’s development strategy through 2030, and deepen cooperation to serve the development and rejuvenation of both countries.
The two leaders also agreed to extend the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation and issued a joint statement on enhancing comprehensive strategic coordination, deepening good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation.
China-Russia relations set example for major countries
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination and the 25th anniversary of the treaty, which defines the relationship as “non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party” and enshrines the principle of “ever-lasting friendship and never becoming enemies.”
Xi noted that the treaty legally established a long-term foundation for neighborly friendship and comprehensive strategic cooperation, which has enabled a leap forward in bilateral relations. He said that China will work with Russia to uphold the spirit of the treaty and firmly advance China-Russia back-to-back strategic coordination.
Li Yongquan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the China-Russia relationship, based on “non-alliance, non-confrontation, and not targeting any third party,” transcends ideology and political systems and rests firmly on shared long-term interests and a commitment to a multipolar world. Their relationship offers a new model for major countries to get along with each other, Li said.
Since the treaty’s signing, political trust between the two countries has deepened. Annual presidential visits have become a routine, and multiple cooperation mechanisms have been established, including regular meetings between prime ministers, the China-Russia Energy Cooperation Committee, the Strategic Security Consultation Mechanism and the China-Russia Committee on Cultural Cooperation.
These mechanisms have played an irreplaceable role in promoting pragmatic cooperation, resolving bilateral issues and coordinating positions on multilateral international affairs.
China, Russia: Pillars of a multipolar world
During their talks, Xi stressed the importance of deepening multilateral coordination, safeguarding the post-war international order and international law and promoting the building of a more just and reasonable global governance system.
China and Russia have long supported each other on key issues of mutual concern. They have jointly promoted the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), BRICS and trilateral mechanisms such as China-Russia-India and China-Russia-Mongolia cooperation. They also continue to coordinate on international platforms, such as the UN and APEC, advocating for greater representation of developing countries in global governance and promoting a multipolar, inclusive global order.
Russia is the first country Xi visited after taking office as Chinese president. Putin last year visited China to attend the SCO summit and commemorative events marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Putin stated that China-Russia relations have stood the test of time and grown increasingly resilient and that China-Russia cooperation is an important stabilizing factor in the turbulent world.
Cooperation boosts shared development, people-to-people exchanges
Deep political trust and close strategic alignment between the two countries has enabled steady progress in trade, culture and people-to-people exchanges, ushering China-Russia relations into a new phase of development.
Despite a complex international environment, China-Russia cooperation has shown resilience. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, bilateral trade reached $227.9 billion in 2025, surpassing the $200 billion mark for the third consecutive year. In the first quarter of this year, bilateral trade totaled $61.2 billion, up 14.7% year on year.
Currently, the 10th China-Russia Expo is being held in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, attracting nearly 300 Russian enterprises. Meanwhile, China and Russia introduced a mutual visa-free policy in 2025, triggering a tourism boom between the two countries.
The two countries have also jointly organized a range of exchange programs over the years, including the language year, tourism year, youth exchange year and cultural year. Last year, the “China-Russia Year of Culture” concluded successfully, while this year’s “China-Russia Year of Education” is expected to further strengthen generational friendship and consolidate the foundation for long-term mutual understanding between the two peoples.
