Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin has arrived in China for a two-day visit that includes meetings with president Xi Jinping and premier Li Qiang.
The visit is seen by Moscow as “very important”, focusing on economic, industrial, and technological cooperation at a time when the two countries are facing rising Western pressure and sanctions.
“We expect prime minister Mikhail Mishustin will be received by Chinese president Xi Jinping. This is also a mutual tradition in bilateral relations,” a Kremlin spokesman said, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
“Therefore, we are, of course, looking forward to this visit and attach great importance to it.”
Mr Mishustin’s meetings will cover trade, energy, transport, agriculture, and advanced technology.
China has emerged as Russia’s closest ally and a crucial lifeline since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
The two sides have strengthened ties since signing a “no limits” partnership in 2022, though bilateral trade has recently declined due to “external pressures” and “market saturation” of Chinese goods, according to Russian industry and trade minister Anton Alikhanov.
In a statement released after Russian leader Vladimir Putin met with Mr Xi in Beijing in 2022, the two nations said their friendship had no limits and there were “no forbidden areas of cooperation”.
They insisted that “strengthening of bilateral strategic cooperation is neither aimed against third countries nor affected by the changing international environment and circumstantial changes in third countries”.
Mishustin is visiting China from 3 to 4 November for the 30th meeting of the Russian and Chinese heads of government.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the meeting would “further enhance mutual trust, build greater consensus, deepen cooperation, and inject new impetus into the development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era”.
Ahead of the prime minister’s visit, Russian and Chinese officials met in Ningbo to discuss expanding copper, nickel and farm exports, the Kremlin said.
The Kremlin views deeper industrial and tech collaboration with Beijing as a more sustainable form of long-term partnership, according to Reuters.
Russia as well as Ukraine rely heavily on Chinese equipment – drones, chips, jamming systems, and fibre optics – to keep their militaries operational.
Ukrainian experts say that if Beijing bans such exports, it will halt the war “very fast”.
Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta think tank in Kyiv, told Al Jazeera that Mr Xi’s role in ending the war is pivotal. “Without the financial support, without the economic cooperation with China, Russia can’t continue the war,” he said. “China is Russia’s main economic resource. Had it wanted to end this war, it would have achieved it very fast.”
Recently, US president Donald Trump said he hoped to enlist China’s help as he pushed to end the war in Ukraine.
“I’d like China to help us out with Russia,” he said aboard Air Force One as he headed to Asia for a whirlwind tour that included a meeting with Mr Xi in South Korea.
Mr Trump also said earlier that the Chinese leader “can have a big influence on Putin”.
