Vladimir Putin will visit China next week

Vladimir Putin will visit China next week. Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters about this. “There are two coming [зарубежных] visit of our president. The first is October 12-13 to Kyrgyzstan, and then next week to the People’s Republic of China,” Ushakov told reporters on October 11. According to him, preparations for the visit to China are now in full swing. Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov also said earlier on October 11 that the dates of Putin’s visit to China have been determined: “We will inform you in a timely manner.”

Press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov, during his press briefing on October 11, also confirmed that the dates of the visit to the PRC have already been determined and the Kremlin will “inform about them in a timely manner.” On September 21, Putin, at a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, said that he had accepted the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend the third international forum dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (aka Belt and Road).

On October 11, the official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, announced that the mentioned forum would be held on October 17-18 in Beijing, Xinhua reports. Xi Jinping will take part in the opening ceremony, where he will give a keynote speech, and will also hold a welcome banquet and bilateral events for forum guests. Its theme is stated as “High-quality cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road: together for common development and prosperity.”

Even earlier, on October 1, Putin, congratulating Xi Jinping on the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, noted that negotiations during the One Belt, One Road forum would contribute to further building up the entire range of constructive Russian-Chinese ties in the interests of ensuring security and stability as in Eurasia and throughout the world.

At the same time, as Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on October 10, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will also visit Beijing from October 16 to 18, where he will hold talks with Wang Yi.

The October meeting between the leaders of China and Russia will be the second in 2023. Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Russia on March 20-22, which was his first foreign trip after being appointed chairman of the People’s Republic of China for the third time. At the same time, he invited Putin to visit China.

The “One Belt – One Road” forum has already become a regular event. The first time it was held on May 14–15, 2017 in Beijing, the second – there on April 25–27, 2019. Both times, Putin attended the events, but as an honored guest. The final statements of the first forums were almost entirely devoted to the problems of global governance, including the coordination of macroeconomic policies, environmental issues, etc.

Xi first presented the concept of the One Belt, One Road project in the fall of 2013 at Nazarbayev University in Astana. The goal was the creation of transit and transport infrastructure between China, the countries of Eurasia and Africa, and later the countries of South America began to participate in the initiative. On October 10, the press office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China published a White Paper on the first results of 10 years within the Belt and Road Initiative. According to its data, from 2013 to 2022, the total value of imports and exports between China and other countries participating in the initiative reached $19.1 trillion, and the average annual growth rate was 6.4%. The total volume of bilateral investments between them exceeded $380 billion, including more than $240 billion from China. By the end of August 2023, more than 80 countries and international organizations had joined the Belt and Road Cooperation Initiative to promote smooth trade, and China had signed 21 free trade agreements with 28 countries and regions.

Moscow is not directly involved in the One Belt, One Road initiative, but supports it. Thus, in 2015, Putin and Xi signed an agreement on “linking the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Silk Road Economic Belt.” As Vasily Kashin, director of the Higher School of Economics Center for Research and Development, previously told Vedomosti, there is a possibility that in the new conditions Russia will reconsider its previous attitude towards the Belt and Road, increasing the level of participation in it. Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University Alexei Maslov said that Beijing is now very interested in Russia loudly declaring that it is part of the “One Belt – One Road” project, but, in his opinion, it should avoid this, while maintaining the ability to hedge national risks .