Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet for a high-stakes summit in Beijing on Wednesday, featuring deep dives into bilateral and international issues, capped by an intimate, tie-free tête-à-tête over tea.
Coming immediately on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent visit to the Chinese capital, the optics and strategic outcomes of this meeting between the two autocratic leaders will be closely scrutinized and compared globally.
Xi is well-known for hosting visiting dignitaries over tea, but the precise setting and manner of these encounters are viewed by analysts as a diplomatic barometer of the Chinese leader’s regard for his guest. When Xi hosted Putin for talks in May 2024, the pair famously ditched their ties as they conversed outdoors in Zhongnanhai, the former imperial garden that houses the leadership of the ruling Communist Party.
In contrast, Trump’s stroll through a secret garden, tea with Xi in the same compound, and a tour of the Temple of Heaven last week appeared far more choreographed and formal.
”Beijing is loving the optics of this. They’re loving being the centre of world attention, and they will be playing it for their domestic audience for all that it’s worth,” said Graeme Smith, a senior fellow at the Australian National University’s Pacific Affairs department.
”In some ways, Xi is benefiting from the emotional instability of both those world leaders,” Smith added, referencing Trump’s penchant for pomp and Putin’s long-time show of camaraderie with Xi.
The rare, back-to-back visits to Beijing by the leaders of two superpowers deeply at odds with each other politically, militarily, and economically have been hailed by Chinese state media as validation of China’s soaring global standing in an increasingly fragmented world order.
Demonstrating the importance of the arrival, Putin was greeted on the tarmac Tuesday evening by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, alongside an honor guard and Chinese youths waving the national flags of both nations.