CaliToday (01/9/2025): Chinese President Xi Jinping has positioned his country as a force for global economic stability, pledging hundreds of millions of dollars to support partners at a time when President Donald Trump is waging a global tariff war and has slashed foreign aid under his "America First" policy.
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| Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin during a ceremony at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China on Aug. 31. © Reuters |
Xi’s comments came in a speech Monday, the centerpiece of a two-day summit designed to showcase China's global leadership and its deep and enduring partnership with Russia, as the two neighbors seek to rebalance global power in their favor and to the detriment of the United States and its allies.
"We should leverage the strengths of our vast markets and economic complementarity among member states, and improve trade and investment facilitation," Xi told more than 20 world leaders gathered in the Chinese port city of Tianjin for the summit of the Beijing and Moscow-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
The Chinese leader pledged 2 billion yuan ($280 million) in funding for SCO member states this year, and another 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in loans for an SCO banking consortium over the next three years.
Without naming the United States, Xi proclaimed his opposition to “hegemonism,” “Cold War mentality,” and “bullying acts” in his address to a room of influential political figures from across the globe, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
These are phrases Xi has often used to criticize what he views as a world order dominated by the US and its Western allies. As Trump unnerves nations with his global trade war, withdrawal from international bodies, cuts to foreign aid, and social media threats, Beijing sees the US as undermining the very international order it built – and sees an opportunity to cement its own vision as an alternative.
“We should advocate for an equal and orderly multipolar world, an economic globalization that is universally beneficial and inclusive, and make the global governance system more just and equitable,” Xi said in his opening address.
Echoing Xi’s remarks, Putin said the SCO was laying the foundation for a “new security system” in Eurasia, positioning it as an alternative to Western-led alliances he has long railed against.
The new system “will replace the outdated Euro-centric and Euro-Atlantic models, take into account the interests of the widest possible range of national states, be truly balanced and will not allow some countries to try to ensure their security at the expense of others,” Putin said.
A Close Partnership
The summit is a testament to the ever-closer ties between China and Russia, as well as the friendship cultivated over the years between their two authoritarian leaders.
The deep personal rapport between the two was on full display Sunday evening, as Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted a welcome banquet for the attending leaders.
Footage released by Russian state news agency RIA showed Xi and Putin animatedly chatting with gestures and smiles, revealing a different side of the often-restrained Chinese leader – and his warm, relaxed demeanor with his Russian counterpart. The SCO summit is also the leaders' first opportunity to meet since a summit between Putin and Trump in Alaska earlier this month – and comes as Putin pushes back against Western pressure to end his brutal assault on Ukraine.
Just last week, Moscow's forces carried out their second-largest aerial attack ever on Ukraine.
On Monday, Putin used his address at the SCO summit to reiterate his key talking points on the war in Ukraine, saying the crisis was "not the result of Russian aggression against Ukraine, but the consequence of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and incited by the West."
Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after Russian forces had earlier seized Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine.
The Russian leader praised the efforts of China and India in promoting a resolution to the crisis and described the "understanding" reached with Trump at the Alaska meeting as "paving the way for peace in Ukraine."
"During the bilateral meetings scheduled for today and tomorrow, I will, of course, inform my colleagues in more detail and in full about the results of the negotiations in Alaska," Putin said, adding he had already briefed Xi "in detail" over lunch on Sunday.
Analysts say the Russian leader will use the meeting to demonstrate he is not alone on the international stage. “(Putin) will seek to use Russia’s resilience and China’s support as evidence that Western sanctions and isolation have not worked,” Li Mingjiang, an associate professor at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said ahead of the meeting.
“At the same time, he will try to strengthen strategic alignment with Beijing, especially to ensure China’s supply of dual-use goods and equipment to Russia (and) to show that Moscow has powerful partners even as Washington ramps up its efforts to end the war.”
The Ukraine War Looms Large
China has emerged as a key pillar of diplomatic and economic support for Putin’s regime since the early days of the Ukraine invasion, even as it claims neutrality in the conflict.
Chinese firms have bought up large quantities of discounted Russian oil and supplied Russia with vital trade, including dual-use goods that Western leaders say have fueled Russia’s defense industrial base. Beijing defends its “normal trade” with Russia.
Earlier this summer, Trump threatened to target that partnership, saying China could face high tariffs on its goods if it continues to buy fuel from Russia amid the war.
But even as the US slapped such sanctions on India last week, Washington has so far held off on that threat as it seeks a broader trade deal with Beijing.
Trump's massive 50% tariff on India has soured relations with Modi – and spurred a budding and cautious rapprochement between New Delhi and Beijing.
The Indian leader met Xi on Sunday during his first visit to China in seven years, as both countries face tough US tariffs and Western scrutiny over their relations with Russia.
On Monday, Modi highlighted his rapport with both his host and the Russian leader at the SCO summit, sharing a hug with Putin before the two walked arm-in-arm to greet Xi. The three leaders then engaged in a laughter-filled conversation.
According to Russian state media, Modi and Putin also had a private meeting that lasted nearly an hour in the Russian president’s limousine, an Aurus, en route to their formal talks.
"India and Russia have always stood by each other even in the most difficult times," Modi said at the start of their meeting. "We have been in constant dialogue on the situation in Ukraine. We welcome all recent efforts for peace."
A readout from India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the two leaders discussed the latest developments related to Ukraine. "(Modi) reiterated his support for the recent initiatives that have been taken to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, while highlighting the need to accelerate an end to the conflict and find a lasting peaceful solution," the MEA said. Analysts say Xi sees the meeting – and a massive military parade he will preside over on Wednesday in Beijing, expected to be attended by Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un as well as some two dozen other leaders – as a crucial, well-timed diplomatic power play.
Chinese officials have promoted this year's SCO as the largest ever, saying ahead of the event that 20 leaders from across Asia and the Middle East would attend. In addition to Russia, China, and India, SCO members include Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
