Xi warns of law of the jungle as Putin visits Beijing

Xi Jinping greeted Vladimir Putin at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People with a red carpet, honor guard, gun salute and children waving Chinese and Russian flags, then used the meeting to deliver a pointed warning about global disorder as China balanced its ties with Moscow and Washington. Xi said renewed conflict in the Middle East was “inadvisable,” called for an immediate ceasefire and warned that the world risked reverting to a “law of the jungle” if international conflict continued unchecked.

The message carried a clear strategic edge. Putin’s visit came less than a week after Donald Trump’s own high-profile trip to Beijing, turning the back-to-back diplomacy into a test of China’s claim that it can act as a stabilizing power while preserving close ties with Russia. Xi’s public language about anti-hegemony and global order was aimed not only at Washington, but also at a broader non-Western audience that Beijing hopes will see China as an alternative to U.S. power.

Putin answered with equally calibrated praise, describing Russia-China cooperation as showing “strong, positive” momentum and calling the relationship “unyielding” despite outside pressure. The two leaders have met more than 40 times over roughly 25 years, and this was Putin’s second meeting with Xi in less than a year, underscoring how deeply the relationship has become embedded in both countries’ foreign policy. The talks were expected to cover Ukraine and the Middle East, with Moscow also pressing for stronger energy links, including momentum on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which could eventually carry an additional 50 billion cubic metres of gas a year.

The economic stakes are substantial. China remained Russia’s largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years, and bilateral trade reached $227.9 billion in 2025, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. Trade in the first two months of 2026 totaled $39.05 billion, up 12% from a year earlier. But the relationship has shown strain: China’s 2025 trade with Russia fell 6.5% year on year in yuan terms, the first decline in five years, as Russian demand for Chinese cars weakened and the value of Russian crude imports fell.

The timing also coincided with the 10th China-Russia Expo in Harbin, which opened on May 17, 2026. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination and the 25th anniversary of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, a milestone Beijing used to showcase partnership while Putin stood beside Xi in the capital.