Putin travels to China to strengthen partnerships at summit and military parade.
Tianjin: Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting China for a four-day trip that includes attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin and serving as an honored guest at a military parade in Beijing commemorating the end of World War II.
The SCO summit, hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, is expected to gather more than twenty world leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The gathering underscores Beijing’s ambition to build stronger alliances among non-Western powers.
On September 3, Putin will join Xi in Tiananmen Square for the military parade marking Japan’s surrender in 1945. Analysts say the optics of Putin standing alongside Xi—and potentially North Korean leader Kim Jong Un—highlight a deepening axis of countries that present themselves in defiance of Western influence.
China and Russia are expected to finalize new bilateral agreements during the visit. Gazprom, Russia’s energy giant, is reportedly preparing to sign major cooperation documents with Chinese counterparts. Meanwhile, the summit may also facilitate quiet talks between India and China aimed at reducing border tensions and improving trade flows.
Putin has openly criticized Western sanctions, calling them discriminatory, and praised growing Sino-Russian economic ties. For Moscow, closer links with China provide both a strategic counterbalance to the United States and crucial access to markets for its energy exports. For Beijing, alignment with Russia strengthens its narrative of a multipolar world order.
The parade itself is designed to showcase China’s military modernization and national pride. Tens of thousands of troops, tanks, aircraft, and missiles are expected to roll through Tiananmen Square in a grand display of power. For Xi, the event symbolizes China’s rising stature and its willingness to project influence alongside partners like Russia and Iran.
