MOSCOW: Russia and China signed more than 40 agreements covering economic cooperation, energy, transport and international affairs following talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday.
According to a Kremlin statement, 22 documents were formally signed during a special ceremony held after the Putin-Xi meeting, while another 20 agreements and memorandums were concluded on the sidelines of the presidential summit.
The two leaders also signed two major joint declarations. One focused on further strengthening the comprehensive partnership and deepening bilateral relations between Russia and China, while the second outlined their shared vision for the formation of a multipolar world and what they described as a new model of international relations.
Addressing a joint news conference after the talks, Putin said Moscow and Beijing had developed a stable system of bilateral trade capable of withstanding external pressure and volatility in global markets.
Your visit is already a success, during your visit we signed a lot of joint documents and agreements — President Xi Jinping to President Vladimir Putin
‘Your visit yielded good results, it shows the historic scale of the relations between our countries’ pic.twitter.com/OxFFLYLzZO
— RT (@RT_com) May 20, 2026
He said the increasing use of national currencies in bilateral trade had played a central role in protecting economic cooperation 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 added that Russia remained prepared to ensure uninterrupted oil and gas supplies to China as the two countries continued to expand strategic energy cooperation.
He also noted that the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom was nearing completion of new power units at nuclear power plants in China as part of a broader collaboration in the nuclear energy sector.
The Russian president described the Russia-China partnership as an important stabilising force in global affairs amid growing geopolitical uncertainty.
Putin further highlighted what he called the success of the bilateral visa-free travel regime, saying it had significantly boosted tourism and people-to-people exchanges between the neighbouring powers.
“In 2025, more than 2 million Russians arrived in the People’s Republic of China. Over 1 million Chinese citizens visited Russia,” he said.
