Xi Jinping and Putin met during the Summit: China and Russia continue to strengthen strategic cooperation narrative

On the afternoon of August 31, local time, Xi Jinping met with Russian President Putin during the 2026 Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Bishkek.Reuters quoted China's public statementXi Jinping said that under the strategic leadership and cooperation of both sides, the basis of China-Russia relations will be stronger, and expressed the willingness to continue to promote global governance reform with Russia and others.

The meeting took place at a time when the international security and economic landscape continued to shake. China-Russia continued to strengthen “strategic cooperation” and “multi-polarization” talks in recent years, and the interaction between the two sides in energy, trade, diplomatic coordination and international organizations continued to deepen. Beijing described this relationship as not aimed at third-party inter-national cooperation, but Western governments and security agencies have long been concerned about the impact of China-Russia cooperation on European security, sanctions enforcement and international order.

From the current public information, the focus of the meeting on August 31 remains on bilateral relations and international and regional issues.CPC official meeting materialsThere is limited disclosure of new specific agreements, primarily in political speech.Therefore, it is now possible to confirm that the leaders of the two countries once again publicly emphasize relations stability and strategic coordination, but it is not possible to assume that new specific military or economic arrangements have emerged.

The SCO Summit has also continued to be used by Beijing and Moscow as a platform to demonstrate non-Western multilateral cooperation.China has in recent years expanded its diplomatic influence through the framework of the SCO and the BRICS mechanism and promoted its so-called “global governance reform”; while Russia is more dependent onining trade and diplomatic space with China and other non-Western countries in the context of the war on Ukraine and Western sanctions.

Subsequent points worth verifying include new energy settlement arrangements, military-industrial or sensitive technology cooperation, the avoidance of risks of sanctions against Russia, and practical coordination between the two countries on security issues such as Ukraine and Iran.