Beijing – Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday, 20 May 2026, in a summit that produced a joint declaration, an energy agreement and 20 signed deals, coming just days after United States President Donald Trump’s own visit to the Chinese capital.
Xi welcomed Putin with an honour guard and a gun salute, as children waved Chinese and Russian flags. The two leaders held two rounds of talks before presiding over a signing ceremony, with 20 documents signed in their presence and 20 more agreements announced separately. The first agreement signed was a joint statement for comprehensive strategic coordination.
In a joint declaration released after the meetings, Russia and China warned that the world risked sliding back to the “law of the jungle.” “The global situation is becoming more complex. The global peace and development agenda is facing new risks and challenges, and there is a danger of fragmentation of the international community and a return to the ‘law of the jungle’,” the declaration read. 
The two countries also took aim at what they described as attempts by certain states to dominate global affairs. “Attempts by a number of states to unilaterally manage global affairs, impose their interests on the entire world, and limit the sovereign development of other countries, in the spirit of the colonial era, have failed,” the declaration said, without naming any specific country. Both China and Russia have in the past criticised what they describe as a United States-led attempt to enforce global hegemony.
At the signing ceremony, Xi said both countries should oppose “all unilateral bullying and actions that reverse history,” adding that China-Russia relations had reached a new starting point. He said the two countries would closely maintain strategic communication and speed up cooperation in artificial intelligence and technology innovation.
Putin said Russia was ready to continue supplying China with energy, describing relations between the two countries as having reached an unprecedented level. He added that Russia was also ready for cooperation with other partners, including the United States, and said he had discussed this with Xi during their talks. Almost all Russia-China trade settlements are now conducted in ruble-yuan, he noted.
On energy, the Kremlin said the leaders reached an agreement on something important, though it did not go into details. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there is a general understanding on the long-stalled Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline, but that details still need to be agreed and there are no clear timings. Russia’s Gazprom began a feasibility study on the project in 2020 and announced a legally binding 30-year supply memorandum in September 2025. The pipeline has been stalled due to disagreements over price, and has taken on new importance for Russia since sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine cut it off from most of its European customers.
The Kremlin dismissed comparisons between the ceremonies held for Putin and Trump’s respective visits. “There is a point in comparing the content. It is not always easy to compare the content as not everything is shown on the surface. However, the main value lies in the content, not in the ceremonial aspects,” Peskov said. Unlike Trump’s visit, which did not produce a joint statement, China and Russia issued a formal joint declaration on Wednesday.
Neither Xi nor Putin took questions from the media. The pair were expected to end the day with an intimate meeting over tea.
