The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, arrived in Beijing for a state visit this Tuesday (May 19, 2026). It is the 21st time that the Russian leader has visited China as president, making him the foreign head of state who has visited China the most times.
The first time Putin went to China as president was in 2000. On that occasion, he signed the Beijing Declaration – a treaty that establishes cooperation between the countries. Since then, he has been with 3 Chinese presidents: Xi Jinping (2013-current), Hu Jintao (2003-2013) and Jiang Zemin (1993-2003).
Vladimir Putin was president of Russia from 2000 to 2008. He returned to power in 2012, where he has remained ever since. During this 4-year period, he was the country’s prime minister and visited China every year in office. In total, there have been 24 visits to the country.
The Russian president has always attended multilateral summits held in China. He was at the founding and at least 3 other OPX (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) summits, in addition to having participated in events involving the Brics – a group that includes Brazil –, Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) and the G20.
Furthermore, Vladimir Putin was present in the last 2 years to commemorate the War of Resistance against Japan, one of the main demonstrations of Chinese military power. The Russian’s was seen with appreciation by Beijing – which wants support to strengthen its dominance over the Taiwan Strait.
The Russian leader’s closeness to the Chinese government contrasts with the relationship between China and the United States. Last week, US President Donald Trump’s (Republican Party) trip to Beijing was the first time that a head of the White House had visited the country in 9 years. The last time, in 2017, was during Trump’s first term. Before him, Barack Obama (Democratic Party) traveled to China for a G20 meeting.
Diplomatically, China has a much closer relationship with Russia than with the US. In fact, this period in which Putin and Xi serve as leaders of their respective countries is considered by both to be the best relationship between Russia and China in history.
Before leaving for China this Tuesday (May 19), Putin declared that diplomacy between the countries has reached a “truly unprecedented level”. He called Xi “a good long-time friend”.
