On the opening day of the 2022 Winter Olympics, just 20 days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the two leaders had met in Beijing and declared a “no limits” partnership. On March 22, 2023, at the end of a state visit to Russia, as Xi left the Kremlin he told Putin, “There are changes—the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years—and we are the ones driving these changes together.” The remarks were filmed and broadcast around the world.
China has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and China’s rhetorical and economic support for Russia has been rock solid. Bilateral trade rose 26.3 percent between 2022 and 2023, hitting a record $240.1 billion, with China buying enormous qualities of Russian fossil fuels, and selling products and commodities that Russia needs.
