(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) Regarding Russian President Putin’s visit to China, the Berliner Zeitung commented that since Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine in early 2022, President Putin has visited China for the fourth time. This also highlights the shift in Russia’s geoeconomic focus: Russia is establishing an unequal partnership with the Far East superpower. This review titled "Unequal Partners" reads:
"After launching the war of aggression against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has caused the original economic model in Europe to be destroyed. In the past few decades, cheap energy from Russia has been the guarantee of European industrial competitiveness. The year before the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict, in 2013, EU-Russia economic and trade relations entered their peak period, with bilateral trade volume approaching US$400 billion. Since then, it has declined rapidly. Bilateral trade volume has plummeted to US$64 billion in 2025, a drop of up to 80% compared with 2021.
In contrast, Russia-China trade is a completely different picture: in 2013, China-Russia trade volume was US$90 billion, and in 2020 it was only US$108 billion. In 2024, it soared to 245 billion euros, an increase of more than 170%. Although there was a slight decline of about 7% last year, this is also a normal adjustment.
These data reflect intense geopolitical turmoil, energy market readjustments, and deep changes in the economic structures of China and Russia. The sharp surge in Sino-Russian trade volume after 2022 is a direct result of Western sanctions against Russia. After Western countries excluded Russia from the financial and technological system, Moscow began to turn to its eastern neighbor. For China, it has found new opportunities outside of traditional markets. "
The Berliner Zeitung commented that both China and Russia are worried about becoming dependent on each other, but both sides also know that they cannot do without each other in the geopolitical struggle with the West. Although China's economic strength is far stronger than that of Russia, Russia, as an important energy supplier, is by no means without chips:
"It is estimated that 55-65% of China's crude oil imports come from the Gulf countries and Iran, 35% of which need to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. In terms of natural gas, China is also an important importer globally, and one-third of its natural gas imports need to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
The dependence on the import of crude oil and natural gas has become a fatal weakness of the Chinese economy. Given this, it is not surprising that China is hoarding large amounts of oil. It is estimated that China's current oil reserves are as high as 1.2 billion to 1.4 billion barrels, which means it has a buffer equivalent to approximately 100 to 130 days of total imports. But in today’s highly turbulent geopolitical world, what does three months mean? You know, the Strait of Hormuz is still closed.
In view of this, Russia's abundant energy also gives Moscow the bargaining chip to be on an equal footing with Beijing. After all, Beijing does not want to repeat the mistakes of the Europeans. Europe chose the path of confrontation with Russia and paid a heavy economic price for it. At the same time, Beijing also has a clear understanding of the risks of dependence. In 2024, 20% of China's crude oil and 10% of its natural gas will come from Russia. In comparison, before the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war, Europe relied on imports of 45% of its natural gas and 25% of its crude oil from Russia. "
“The General Secretary of the Communist Party of China who is sought after by all parties”
The Daily commented that within a week, Trump and Putin visited China successively, which not only made China once again become the "Central Empire", but also made the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China the target of all parties competing to please:
“Until not long ago, the United States tried to distance itself from Beijing and suppress it geopolitically through Obama’s ‘Pivot to Asia’, Biden’s containment policy, Trump’s tariff stick, and a series of sanctions that are still in effect today. It took nine years for the US president to set foot on Chinese soil again, which is a manifestation of this deliberately hostile policy.
However, with the poll results so bad and the midterm elections approaching, Trump suddenly began to bow to Xi Jinping. He hopes to gain Xi Jinping's support because only in this way can he escape from the disastrous Iran crisis with more or less dignity. However, Xi Jinping, who is being courted by all parties, did not comment on this. Instead, he issued tough threats to Trump on the Taiwan issue. All of this apparently caught Trump off guard, so much so that he remained uncharacteristically silent.
Now, Putin is here too. This is his 25th visit to Beijing. The number of Putin's visits to China itself just illustrates China's position: it is by no means between the United States and Russia, but is clearly biased towards Moscow. If Trump’s declaration of Xi Jinping as a ‘great leader’ is just wishful thinking, then the ‘unlimited friendship’ between Xi Jinping and Putin is mutually recognized. Both Xi Jinping and Putin believe that the era when the United States dominated the world is gone forever. There is no doubt that China and Russia each face many problems and their interests are not the same, but none of this is helpful to Trump. "
