By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Russia and China have signed over 40 documents spanning economy, energy, transport, and international cooperation, following talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday.
The Kremlin said in a statement that 22 documents were signed at a special ceremony at the end of the Putin-Xi talks, while 20 more agreements and memorandums were sealed on the sidelines of the presidential summit in Beijing.
Putin and Xi adopted a joint statement on further strengthening the partnership and deepening relations between Russia and China, as well as a joint declaration on the formation of a multipolar world and a new type of international relations.
Moscow and Beijing have built a stable system of bilateral trade protected from external pressure and volatility in global markets, Putin told a news conference after his meeting with Xi.
He explained that conducting trade in rubles and yuan helps shield economic cooperation from “external influence” and ensures sustainability in commercial ties between the two countries.
“The coordinated steps taken by Russia and China to shift settlements between them, between our countries as a whole, to national currencies have been of great significance. As a result, virtually all Russian-Chinese export-import operations are being carried out in rubles and yuan,” he said.
Putin said Russia was ready to continue uninterrupted supplies of oil and gas to China and that Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom was completing construction of new power units at nuclear power plants in China as part of broader energy cooperation between the two countries.
The Russian President also described the Russia-China partnership as a stabilizing factor in international affairs.
Putin pointed to what he called positive results from the bilateral visa-free regime, which has boosted tourism and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
“In 2025, more than 2 million Russians arrived in the People’s Republic of China. Over 1 million Chinese citizens visited Russia,” he said.
