The Chinese president, Xi Jinpingtransferred his Russian counterpart this Thursday in Beijing, Vladimir Putin, that China and Russia are going to “preserve justice in the world,” reported the Foreign Ministry of the Asian country. “Despite some ups and downs, our relations have been strengthening and have withstood the test of the changing international landscape. We are a good example for other powers in terms of respect and candor. The development of our ties favors peace, stability and prosperity of the region and the world,” Xi said in the closed-door meeting they held this Thursday.

“We will continue to consolidate our friendship and defend justice in the world,” Xi said before Putin, who arrived tonight at the airport in the capital of the Asian giant on his first visit abroad after his re-election for a fifth term. The Chinese leader recalled that he has met with Putin “more than forty times” and noted that both maintain “close communication” and provide each other with “strategic guidance” which has “ensured the solid, stable and fluid development of our ties.” “The relationship between China and Russia today is hard-won, and both sides should value and foster it,” he noted. Likewise, Xi asserted that China is willing to work with Russia “to remain a good neighbor, a good friend and a good partner who trust each other.”

Putin’s visit begins a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in Kyiv an additional allocation of 2 billion of dollars (about 1,837 million euros) to help Ukraine acquire weapons from the United States and other countries and increase the production capacity of its own military industry.

This is the Putin’s second visit in less than a year, after the trip he made in October 2023 on the occasion of the III New Silk Roads Forum, which some analysts consider a new indication of the growing alignment between both countries to continue their businesses and promote a new “multipolar” order. For the Chinese president, the visit will be an opportunity to show that his affinity with Putin has not compromised his ability to maintain relations with the West, especially after Washington asked Beijing not to supply components that could be used in the war.

He Asian giant, which has not condemned the invasion, has denied having military ties with Russia, but has requested the holding of a conference “recognized by all parties” to resume dialogue. In February 2022, shortly before the start of the war in Ukraine, Xi and Putin proclaimed a “limitless friendship” in Beijing. Since then, they have defended that their relationship “does not threaten any country” and that it “advances the multipolarization of the world” in opposition to American “hegemonism.”