Putin meets Chinese engineer from famous 2000 photo in Beijing

BEIJING, May 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin took a brief pause from a series of official events in Beijing.

After Russian-Chinese negotiations and the opening ceremony of the Cross Years of Education, the Russian leader went to the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where he met with Chinese engineer Peng Pai, now an adult who appeared in a famous 2000 photo. The Chinese boy photographed with Putin during his first visit to China captured widespread media attention at the time.

Putin received a porcelain tea set as a souvenir from Peng Pai and presented him with a reciprocal gift. The Russian president also invited the Chinese engineer to visit Russia.

"I want to wish you all the best. Come to Russia again," Putin told Peng Pai at the conclusion of their meeting.

Peng Pai assured that he would definitely come and expressed his wish for Chinese companies to collaborate with Russia as much as possible.

"Excellent. We will continue. There is a vast field for mutual work and for further strengthening the contribution of Russian-Chinese relations to the development of our countries," Putin responded.

Peng Pai, now 36, works as an engineer at the municipal company Hunan Construction Investment Group. But 25 years ago, in 2000, when Putin visited China on his first state visit as president, Peng Pai was one of the children present in Beihai Park. The boy joyfully waved to the Russian president, and Putin, lifting him from the stone railing, kissed him on the forehead and took a photo together.

The meeting with the Russian president largely shaped Peng Pai’s future. Last year, the RT television channel published the archival photo, and the story of the young man gained widespread attention in Chinese media. In an interview with the Chinese newspaper Hunan Daily, Peng Pai noted that it was the meeting with Putin and the high quality of Russian education that inspired him to study in Moscow. There, he learned Russian, graduated from the Moscow Automobile and Road Construction State Technical University (MADI) in 2013, and even received a Russian name, Pasha. Afterward, he returned to China and began working in his home province.

Peng Pai's story resonated across the Chinese media, received wide coverage in news outlets and social networks, and garnered more than 16 million views, becoming an example of a "living" connection between Russia and China.

In August 2025, RT broadcast Peng Pai’s video message in Russian, in which the engineer expressed hope to meet the Russian president again during a future visit to China. That conversation has now taken place, and as Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov noted, "We believe this will be a very symbolic meeting."