Putin arrives in China on state visit

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in the Chinese capital of Beijing on his first foreign visit after being re-elected and sworn in as Russia’s president.

Putin's state visit to China will be held in two stages. The Russian president is scheduled to visit Beijing and Harbin.

In Beijing, Putin will hold a meeting Xi. The two presidents are expected to hold full-fledged one-on-one talks and those involving delegations, as well as informal face-to-face talks.

The bilateral talks are planned to focus on trade and economic cooperation. At the meeting, Putin and Xi will also touch upon the most pressing political and regional issues. Ushakov said that the most important part of the Beijing talks will be an informal, closed-door meeting. In the ‘1+4 format’ on each side, the two leaders will hold substantial talks on Ukraine.

The second stage of the state visit to China will take place in the city of Harbin, the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province. There, Putin will attend the opening ceremony of the 8th Russian-Chinese Expo and the 4th Russia-China Forum on Interregional Cooperation.