Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China this week to deepen 'no limits' partnership with Xi. Putin on Oct. 17-18 will attend the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, which China is host for representatives of 130 countries.
This would be Putin's first trip outside the former Soviet Union since the Hague-based International Criminal Court issued a warrant for him in March over the deportation of children from Ukraine.
China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing just days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine, triggering the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two.
Putin and Xi share a broad world view, which sees the West as decadent and in decline just as China challenges U.S. supremacy in everything from quantum computing and synthetic biology to espionage and hard military power.
The meeting comes at a time when the world is divided over Israel-Palestine conflict. While the US and allies have showed their support to Israel, both China and Russia sided with Palestine. Speculations are rife that there could be a joint statement by the two countries.
While China hopes the forum will help boost its standing as a leading global power, Israel's war with Palestinian militant organisation Hamas will continue to dominate the headlines. Meanwhile, leaders have begun to trickle into the Chinese capital for a gala event.
Clearing stand on the war, Foreign Minister Wang Yi condemned Israel's actions for going "beyond the scope of self-defence" and called for it to "cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza".
"(Israel) should listen earnestly to the calls of the international community and the UN secretary general, and cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza," Wang said Sunday.
Beijing has been criticised by Western officials for not specifically naming Hamas in its statements on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
China has a warm relationship with Iran, whose clerical leadership supports both Hamas and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that could open a second front against Israel.
Earlier this year, China brokered an entente between former regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia.
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