Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China from August 31 to September 3, where he will hold talks with President Xi Jinping, participate in a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and be the "chief guest" of the military parade on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the Kremlin announced, quoted by "Reuters".
According to foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, such a long visit is extremely rare for the Russian leader. The first two days of the visit will be devoted to the SCO summit in the city of Tianjin. Putin will then travel to Beijing, where he will hold talks with Xi Jinping and attend a parade on September 3 to mark the anniversary of Japan's surrender and the end of World War II.
The Kremlin said Putin would be seated on Xi's right, while North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would be on his left. In addition to the Chinese president, Putin will also hold a series of bilateral meetings with heads of state, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezizkian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A meeting with Kim Jong-un is also being prepared.
The Russian delegation will include a number of high-ranking officials: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, and heads of Russia's largest banks and companies. Three documents related to "Gazprom" are expected to be signed, but their contents were not disclosed.
The visit comes amid a downward trend in trade between Russia and China, after it reached record levels in recent years due to Moscow's international isolation following the war in Ukraine. According to sources cited by Reuters, Putin will seek to reverse that trend and deepen economic ties with Beijing.