(CNN) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will touch down in Russia Wednesday to meet his “best friend” President Vladimir Putin, cementing economic ties between Moscow and Beijing amid China’s heated trade war with the United States.
The Chinese leader is expected to spend three days on the state visit to Russia that coincides with the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, and will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
In an interview with Russian state media TASS ahead of the trip, Xi called Putin his “best and bosom friend,” adding he cherished their “deep friendship.”
“My engagement with President Putin is built on a high degree of mutual trust. That is the solid foundation of our close friendship. We treat each other with respect, candor, understanding and trust,” he said.
Xi’s visit comes as the trade war between the U.S. and China continues to put pressure on both economies. In early May, after trade talks between Washington and Beijing fell apart, the Trump administration raised tariffs to 25% on $200 billion of Chinese goods.
Beijing responded by raising tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. exports and escalating its anti-American propaganda. On May 30, the Chinese government accused the US of “economic terrorism.”
“It’s to show the US that there’s a strong Beijing Moscow alliance which could actually be used against, what Beijing terms, American unilateralism,” Willy Lam, an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a longtime analyst of Chinese politics said.
Meanwhile, the relationship between Xi and Putin remains strong. Since 2013, the two leaders have met almost 30 times, according to state media. Their last bilateral was at the second Belt and Road Summit held in Beijing in April.
The Chinese government has regularly praised its relationship with Moscow, with the Foreign Ministry saying in April relations were at their “best level in history.”
China is Russia’s largest trading partner, far ahead of the United States and other European countries.
According to Xi, the bilateral trade volume reached more than $100 billion in 2018, rising by 30% from the previous year. China’s imports from Russia soared by 42.7% in 2018.
There have even been suggestions in Russian state media that Chinese businesses might consider moving production to Russia, under pressure from the U.S.-China trade war.
“These notable results of our business cooperation are especially valuable given the current complex environment of sluggish global trade and investment and surging protectionism in the world,” Xi told TASS.
But Lam said he wasn’t sure how much use Russia would be to China in avoiding serious economic damage from the US trade war.
“On the trade front, Russia is quite isolated and the Russian economy is quite small, so there’s not much that Russia can do to help China on the trade front against the U.S.,” he said.
It isn’t known when Xi and Putin will meet but Russian and Chinese state media said they were expected to sign about 30 agreements in a range of areas, including security, trade and energy.
During his visit Xi is also expected to open a panda facility at the Moscow Zoo, which received a pair of giant pandas in April for “research cooperation.”
This story was first published on CNN.com, “Xi to meet ‘best and bosom friend’ Putin amid raging US trade war.”
