President Vladimir Putin's plane landed in Beijing at 11:15 PM on 19/5, marking the start of a two-day state visit. He was accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers and leaders from Russia's largest state and private corporations.
The delegation included prominent figures such as Igor Sechin, CEO of state oil and gas giant Rosneft; Alexei Miller, CEO of state energy group Gazprom; aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska; and leaders from state development corporation VEB, nuclear energy agency Rosatom, and space corporation Roscosmos.
Also present were Sberbank CEO German Gref, VTB Bank CEO Andrei Kostin, and Central Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina, alongside five deputy prime ministers and eight ministers.
 |
Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin (right) listens to Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller at an event in Vladivostok, 2017. Photo: Reuters |
The presence of numerous energy CEOs in the delegation indicates that energy cooperation is a key focus for discussion between Russian and Chinese leaders during the visit. President Putin is expected to urge President Xi Jinping to finalize an agreement on the Power of Siberia 2 project, a pipeline designed to transfer 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia to China annually.
Both sides have discussed this project since 2022, but no significant breakthrough has been achieved to date, apart from a memorandum of understanding signed last year.
China is currently Russia's most important partner. As Russia's largest oil customer, China provides a vital revenue stream for the country's economy, which faces pressure due to the Ukraine conflict.
"We are not competing with anyone regarding the composition of our delegation", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on 18/5. "We are developing independent and very diverse relations with China".
During the visit, Putin will hold talks with Xi on bilateral relations and international issues. Approximately 40 bilateral agreements are expected to be signed, including a joint statement on strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations.
Putin's visit follows days after former US President Donald Trump's state visit to China. This marks the first time China has hosted leaders from two major powers in the same month.
During his 13-15/5 visit to China, Trump was accompanied by a "trillion-dollar delegation" comprising 17 business leaders from technology, finance, and aerospace sectors. These included: Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Larry Fink of BlackRock (the world's largest asset management firm), Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, Dina Powell McCormick of Meta, and Visa CEO Ryan McInerney.
The combined personal net worth of this group reached USD 1,070 billion, according to data from Forbes and US Securities and Exchange Commission filings compiled by Quiver Quantitative.
Duc Trung (According to Moscow Times, AP, Reuters)
