Camille Naredo

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping hold a tea chat in Beijing on May 20, 2026. Kristina Solovyova, Pool via AFP

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping hold a tea chat in Beijing on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Kristina Solovyova / POOL / AFP)

Article (news)

CHINA-RUSSIA

<p>BEIJING, China -- Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up a visit to Beijing on Wednesday, hot on the heels of his American counterpart Donald Trump, who travelled to the Chinese capital just days before.</p><p>While both trips were similar in pomp, pageantry and platitudes, AFP takes a look at how the two visits differed:</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- How were the two leaders received? -</strong><strong><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779295407474AFP__20260520__B3GE4G3__v1__MidRes__ChinaRussiaPoliticsDiplomacy.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia&#x27;s President Vladimir Putin and China&#x27;s President Xi Jinping hold a tea chat in Beijing on May 20, 2026. Kristina Solovyova, Pool via AFP" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia&#x27;s President Vladimir Putin and China&#x27;s President Xi Jinping hold a tea chat in Beijing on May 20, 2026. <em>Kristina Solovyova, Pool via AFP</em></span></span></span></strong></div><p>Both Putin and Trump received red-carpet welcomes at the airport when they arrived in Beijing, greeted by smiling Chinese youth waving flags and chanting &quot;welcome!&quot;</p><p>Trump was met on the tarmac by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng -- marking an &quot;elevation&quot; compared to his previous visit in 2017, when he was greeted by then-state councillor Yang Jiechi , said Dylan Loh, an associate professor at Singapore&#x27;s Nanyang Technological University.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/5/14/subdued-trump-left-waiting-for-big-hug-from-xi-1906">READ: Subdued Trump left waiting for &#x27;big hug&#x27; from Xi</a></div><p>Meanwhile, Putin was received by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a lower-ranking official who nevertheless is a member of the elite Politburo party body, comprising of around 20 of the country&#x27;s top leaders.</p><p>&quot;You could argue that Wang is also a Politburo member who has more substantial authority, especially over foreign affairs,&quot; said Lizzi Lee, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute&#x27;s Center for China Analysis.</p><p>But, she cautioned, &quot;who greets a leader on the runway is only roughly relevant to, and usually not the clean-cut indicator of, how Beijing ranks the relationship&quot;.</p><p>It is important to note, however, that Putin is a more frequent visitor to China compared to Trump, with this being the Russian leader&#x27;s 25th visit, Loh added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- What was the tone of opening remarks? -</strong></div><p>Both Trump and Putin heaped praise on President Xi Jinping, with the US president describing him as a &quot;great leader&quot; and &quot;friend&quot;, while Putin called him a &quot;dear friend&quot; and lamented how &quot;a day apart feels like three autumns&quot;.</p><p>Xi struck a warmer tone with Putin, hailing an &quot;unyielding&quot; relationship which has &quot;upheld international fairness and justice&quot;.</p><p>He also said the China-Russia relationship has entered a &quot;new stage&quot; of greater achievements and faster development.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/5/19/marcos-sees-trump-xi-meeting-as-encouraging-sign-for-the-rest-of-the-world-1000">READ: Marcos sees Trump-Xi meeting as ‘encouraging sign for the rest of the world’</a></div><p>The Chinese leader used less effusive tones with Trump, saying the two sides &quot;should be partners and not rivals&quot;, while warning him the issue of Taiwan could push their two countries into conflict.</p><p>The tonal difference matters, but is &quot;pretty consistent&quot; with the nature of their respective relationships, said Lee.</p><p>&quot;With Russia, the bilateral relationship is more predictable.&quot;</p><p>The language taken with Trump is &quot;necessarily more guarded&quot; as the US-China relationship is &quot;far more economically and geopolitical consequential, complicated and sensitive&quot;, Lee added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- What did the two leaders gain? -</strong></div><p>Putin and Xi signed a slew of agreements Wednesday on trade, media and energy.</p><p>Putin has also advocated construction of a second major natural gas pipeline from Russia to China through Mongolia called the Power of Siberia 2.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/5/20/putin-xi-hail-unyielding-ties-in-talks-after-trump-visit-1649">READ: Putin, Xi hail &#x27;unyielding&#x27; ties in talks after Trump visit</a></div><p>The two leaders reached a &quot;basic understanding&quot; on &quot;the route and how it will be built&quot;, according to the Kremlin, though key details including a timeline have yet to be ironed out.</p><p>China also extended a visa-free policy for Russian citizens.</p><p>In comparison, Trump&#x27;s visit to Beijing last week yielded little in the way of immediate concrete announcements.</p><p>&quot;The Trump-Xi meeting was never going to realistically yield big gains and substantive breakthroughs given how competitive and even adversarial the relationship has been,&quot; Loh told AFP.</p><p>&quot;So the gains and agreements were naturally always going to be modest,&quot; Loh added.</p><p>While Trump had sought to stabilize relations with China, he said, Russia seeks to &quot;shepherd an already strong relationship&quot; and &quot;consolidate further areas of cooperation&quot; with Beijing.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/5/15/trump-says-made-fantastic-trade-deals-with-xi-but-details-scarce-2136">READ: Trump says made &#x27;fantastic trade deals&#x27; with Xi, but details scarce</a></div><p>Asia Society&#x27;s Lee said she would not overstate the lack of deliverables from the Trump summit as preparations were rushed and more concrete outcomes will emerge in the coming days and months.</p><p>&quot;For now, the (Trump-Xi) leadership summit seems to have been more about big picture tone setting of the relationship, and creating some political space for follow-up negotiations.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Have relations changed? -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gxUHFzGT7Pc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><p>Russia remains China&#x27;s most significant strategic partner, the analysts said.</p><p>&quot;The agreements and understanding reached (during this visit) reflects that,&quot; Loh said.</p><p>A series of recent visits to Beijing from world leaders this year also highlights China&#x27;s continued &quot;advantageous geopolitical position&quot; said Lim Tai Wei, a professor and East Asia expert at Japan&#x27;s Soka University.</p><p>These visits show that many &quot;great powers&quot; are courting support from Beijing, Lim added, as it seeks to present itself as a more stable alternative to Washington.</p><p>Xi called the US-China relationship the &quot;most important&quot; in the world at a state banquet held in Beijing during Trump&#x27;s visit.</p><p>&quot;There is a large amount of truth to it even as the US and China continue to view each other with deep mistrust,&quot; Loh said.</p>

<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up a visit to Beijing on Wednesday, hot on the heels of his American counterpart Donald Trump, who travelled to the Chinese capital just days before.</p>

Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up a visit to Beijing on Wednesday, hot on the heels of his American counterpart Donald Trump, who travelled to the Chinese capital just days before.

How did Putin and Trump's visits to China compare?

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How did Putin and Trump's visits to China compare?

Isabel Kua,

Agence France-Presse

Published May 21, 2026 01:27 AM PHT

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Updated May 21, 2026 01:46 AM PHT

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Beijing

China

Russia

United States

Vladimir Putin

Donald Trump

Xi Jinping

diplomacy

politics

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