Global Times: Xi holds talks with Putin, says China-Russia relations more confident, stable and resilient in new era

BEIJING, May 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in Moscow on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Xi said that China-Russia relations have grown more confident, stable and resilient in the new era, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xi said continuous development and deepening of China-Russia relations is the call of the times for safeguarding international fairness and justice and promoting the reform of the global governance system, according to Xinhua.

The two sides should take a clear stand to jointly promote the correct historical perspective on World War II, safeguard the authority and status of the United Nations, resolutely defend the rights and interests of China, Russia and the vast number of developing countries, and promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, Xi said.

Noting that he was glad to visit Russia again at the invitation of Putin and attend the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War, Xi said that history and reality have fully proved that continuing to develop and deepen China-Russia relations is integral to carrying forward the friendship between the two peoples from generation to generation.

It is an inevitable choice for both sides to achieve mutual success and promote their own development and revitalization, Xi said.

In talks with Putin, Xi also said that the Chinese side will work with Russia to shoulder the special responsibility as two major countries of the world and permanent members of the UN Security Council, according to Xinhua.

He urged the two countries to jointly promote the correct historical perspective on World War II, and promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, according to Xinhua.

Xi said that in face of unprecedented global changes, China and Russia have continuously deepened political mutual trust and strategic coordination, maintained close coordination and cooperation in international affairs, and injected valuable stability and positive energy into the changing and turbulent world.

China-Russia ties have enjoyed stable, healthy and high-level development thanks to joint efforts from both sides, Xi said, hailing long-term good-neighborly friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation as distinct features of bilateral ties.

Noting that China has for years been a main contributor to and stabilizer of global economic growth, Xi said China stands ready to work with Russia to safeguard the global multilateral trading system and keep the industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded.

Putin, for his part, said "We develop our ties for the good of the two countries' people; they are not directed against anyone. Our relations are equal and mutually beneficial and don't depend on the current situation. The resolve to build good-neighborly relations, strengthen friendship and boost cooperation is a choice that Russia and China have made based on strategic interaction," according to Russia's TASS News Agency and Xinhua.

In Putin's view, the sacrifices that the people of Russia and China made during World War II should never be forgotten, TASS reported.

The Russian leader pointed out that he would be glad to visit China for celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over militarist Japan, TASS reported.

Xi and Putin signed a joint statement on further deepening China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, and witnessed the exchange of over 20 bilateral cooperation documents.

In the joint statement, China and Russia agreed to firmly defend the victorious outcome of World War II (WWII).

China and Russia also vowed to resolutely crush any act that attempts to tamper with WWII history, smear the historical achievements of China and Russia in WWII, or tarnish the image of the liberators. The two sides strongly condemn the acts to desecrate or damage memorial facilities of WWII martyrs.

This visit marks Xi's 11th trip to Russia since he became Chinese president, Xinhua said. Xi and Putin have met more than 40 times on different occasions over the years, according to Xinhua. Their close communication provides strategic guidance, under which China-Russia relations have matured into a resilient and stable partnership characterized by deepening political trust, closer strategic alignment and sustained practical cooperation, Xinhua reported.

Far-reaching significance

Some Chinese and Russian scholars viewed the high-level interactions between China and Russia as having far-reaching significance, underscoring a stable and mutual trust that injects strong vitality and resilience into bilateral relations, making it a key pillar of global strategic stability and a multipolar world.

Maksim Vilisov, Leading Research Fellow at the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told the Global Times that Xi is visiting Russia at a very important historical moment.

"This shows to what extent he values the heritage of the victory in WWII, bilateral China-Russia relations, and his personal relations with President Putin," the Russian scholar said. This is a very symbolic visit and it marks the stability of mutual relations and broad prospects of their development," Vilisov said.

China and Russia adhere to the provisions of the UN Charter and international law. Such activities are increasingly respected in the world and more and more countries support our efforts to build a multipolar system of international relations, Pavel V Troshchinskiy, Leading Researcher of Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Science, told the Global Times.

Uphold multilateralism

A key lesson history has taught the peoples of China and Russia is that in the face of foreign aggression and threats to national security, only resolute struggle can secure national sovereignty and earn the respect of the international community, Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday.

It was through joint resistance against fascism and eventual victory in WWII that China and Russia helped establish the current international order with the United Nations at its core, Cui said.

The lessons of WWII remind us that the principles enshrined in the UN Charter - equality among nations regardless of size, the peaceful settlement of international disputes, and the rejection of force or the threat of force - must be upheld and defended, Cui noted.

At a critical juncture where the world is undergoing profound transformation marked by both change and turbulence, the importance of China-Russia relations stands out more than ever, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

China and Russia are also engaging in close cooperation in several important areas including jointly promoting the central role of the UN in global affairs, advancing a more balanced framework for major-power relations and fostering healthier and leading coordination and cooperation within the BRICS framework and among countries of the Global South, Li said.

This article first appeared in Global Times:

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202505/1333640.shtml

SOURCE Global Times