Chronologies
China - Russia
Chronology from May 2024 to Dec 2024
: China’s special envoy for Middle Eastern affairs Zhai Jun meets Russian Deputy FM Sergei Vershinin on the sidelines of the Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza Conference.
: Chinese FM Wang Yi chairs the 5th China-Central Asian Foreign Ministerial meeting in Chengdu, China. They discuss the work for the 2nd China-Central Asian summit in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2025. A joint communique was issued after the meeting.
: Two Russian Tu-95MS and two Chinese H-6N (nuclear capable) strategic bombers conduct the 9th joint strategic patrol of the East China Sea and Western Pacific. They are escorted at various stages of the patrol by Su-30SM, MiG-31 and J-16 fighters of the two air forces. A Chinese oil tanker (Y-20A) and two Chinese Y-9 electronic surveillance/warfare planes also join the operation. During the two-phase joint patrol, Russian bombers land and take off from a Chinese airfield.
: Assistant FM Liu Bin meets Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov in Beijing. They exchange views on China-Russia relations, high-level exchanges and practical cooperation.
: Chinese FM Wang Yi and Russian counterpart Lavrov hold talks in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro on the sidelines of the G20 annual summit. They discuss issues of Korea, Ukraine, etc
: Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu pays a working visit to China. Shoigu holds “strategic security consultations” with Chinese FM Wang Yi on Nov. 12 and meets CCP’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission overseeing national security and intelligence Cheng Wenqing. Shoigu also visits the Airshow China 2024 in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province.
: Putin speaks highly on relations with China during the annual Valdai Forum in Sochi, Russia. Mentioning China more than 30 times in his three-hour speech and Q&A session, Putin also affirms Russia’s support for China’s claim over Taiwan, while blaming the US and Taiwan for “instigating a crisis in Asia” similar to that of Ukraine.
: Chinese FM Wang Yi meets Russian Deputy FM Andrey Rudenko in Beijing. The two exchange views on the Ukraine crisis.
: Assistant FM Liu Bin holds consultations with Russian Deputy FM Rudenko Andrey Yurevich in Beijing. The two discuss SCO and other regional issues.
: BRICS holds its annual summit in Kazan, Russia. President Putin and President Xi Jinping meet on October 22 on the sideline of the BRICS summit.
: Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov travels to Beijing and holds talks with Chinese counterpart Dong Jun. Belousov says that military cooperation between Russia and China is important in safeguarding global and regional peace and stability. Belousov is also received by Zhang Youxia, deputy chairman of the military commission of the CCP.
: Sixth regular meeting (Moscow format) on Afghanistan is held in Moscow. Senior officials from Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan attend. Acting FM of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi takes part as the main guest. A joint statement is issued calling for cooperation on the security and development of Afghanistan. Russia is reportedly removing Afghanistan from its list of terrorist states.
: Russian and Chinese heads of state exchange greetings for the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations.
: Chinese FM Wang Yi and Russian FM Lavrov attended the third informal meeting of the foreign ministers of China, Russia, Pakistan, and Iran on the Afghan issue on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York. A joint statement was issued calling for greater cooperation in dealing with security and economic challenges in Afghanistan.
: Chinese FM Wang Yi and Brazilian special presidential advisor Celso Amorim launch a “Friends of Peace” platform on the Ukraine crisis at the UN headquarters in New York. Fifteen other countries from the Global South join the platform including Algeria, Bolivia, Columbia, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, and Zambia. France and Switzerland join the meeting as observers. A joint statement is issued. Russian FM Lavrov urges the group to produce a specific action plan for achieving peace and “fully take into account… the root causes of the crisis.” Ukrainian President Zelensky criticized the plan as “destructive.”
: The Northern/Interaction-2024 joint exercise conducts its 2nd phase in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk. This is followed by the 5th joint patrol of the northern Pacific by the two navies.
: Chinese and Russian coast guard ships hold a joint drill near Peter the Great Bay off Vladivostok. This is followed by a first-ever joint patrol of the northern Pacific on September 21. On Oct. 1, the patrol ships reach the Arctic Ocean. This is the first time that Chinese Coast Guard ships patrol the Arctic waters.
: Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, says that “China has not supplied weapons to either party, and we have consistent and rigorous controls over dual-use items. We maintain normal trade and economic cooperation with all countries around the world, including Russia and Ukraine.”
: BRICS’ Senior security officials meet in St. Petersburg for 14th annual session chaired by Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu. Chinese FM Wang Yi meets Shoigu and Russia’s Secretary of the Security Council on Sept. 10 prior to joining the session. This is the first time new BRICS members (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates) participate in the annual session. They also hold a session with security officials representing 13 “Global South” countries. Putin meets the BRICS participants on Sept. 12. He then holds a separate meeting with Chinese FM Wang Yi.
: Russia conducts “Ocean 2024” strategic command-and-staff exercise involving some 90,000 troops and more than 500 ships and aircraft across the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic seas. Fifteen “friendly nations” send observers and China is the only one to participate in the exercise.
: China conducts the first phase of the “Northern/Interaction-2024” naval exercises with Russian naval and air forces in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk. A China-Russia joint commanding headquarters is set up on Sept. 8 in Vladivostok.
: Chinese Premier Li Qiang visits Moscow for the 29th annual prime ministerial meeting with Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin. The focus is to update the bilateral investment protection agreement signed in 2006 for the pending ￥1.4 trillion yuan (about $700 billion) China’s investment in 86 large projects in Russia. Li’s trip is his first official visit to Moscow as premier. Putin meets Li in the Kremly after the regular PM meeting.
: Vice FM Ma Zhaoxu holds consultations in Beijing with Russian Deputy FM Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich. The two exchange views on bilateral relations, global strategic stability, BRICS cooperation, and other issues.
: Director-General of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Foreign Ministry Ma Xinmin holds talks on “international law issues of mutual interest and concern” in Moscow with Director of the Legal Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Musikhin Maksim Vyacheslavovich. Ma then has a first-ever consultation on the peaceful uses of outer space with Special Coordinator of the Russian Foreign Ministry for the International Cooperation Sergey Sergeevich Belousk.
: China’s special envoy for the Ukraine crisis Li Hui conducts his 4th round of shuttle diplomacy by traveling to Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia.
: A Chinese naval task force comprised of the comprehensive landing ship Longhushan and training ship Zheng He visit Vladivostok for the 328th anniversary of the Russian Navy. A total of 1,l00 sailors and naval cadets from China’s Naval Aviation University in Yantai (Shandong Province) participate.
: A trilateral foreign ministerial meeting is held in Vientiane, Laos between Lao Deputy Prime Minister and FM Saleumxay Kommasith, Chinese FM Wang Yi, and Russian FM Sergey Lavrov, representing ASEAN, SCO and BRICS, respectively. It is held on the sidelines of the 57th ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting chaired by Laos. Wang and Lavrov express support for ASEAN centrality of ASEAN. Wang and Lavrov then hold a separate meeting.
: Four Russian and Chinese strategic bombers carry out a five-hour joint patrol of Far East Russia and the Bering Sea near Alaska, the 8th since 2009. The two Tu-95MS and two Chinese H-6 bombers are “intercepted” by US F-35, F-16, and Canadian F-18 fighters in international airspace near Alaska.
: SCO member states conduct the “Interaction-2024” joint counter-terrorism exercise in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. This is the first time all SCO member states participate in a joint counter-terrorism live drill.
: Two Chinese naval ships (Jiaozuo and Honghu) visit the St Petersburg Port for the 328th founding anniversary of the Russian Navy.
: BRICS member states hold 9th Counter-Terrorism Working Group Session in Moscow at the departmental/bureau level, the first enlarged meeting with new members (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates). Prior to this, Director of the External Security Bureau of China’s Foreign Ministry Bai Tian chairs the “de-radicalization” session of the meeting.
: Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang visits Moscow for: the 11th meeting of the China-Russia Investment Cooperation Committee, the 21st meeting of the China-Russia Energy Cooperation Committee, and the sixth China-Russia Energy Business Forum.
: Chinese and Russian navies conduct a joint naval exercise “Exercise Joint Sea-2024” at a military port in Zhanjiang in south China’s Guangdong Province. The Joint-Sea exercise series started in 2012. This time, the seven Chinese and Russian vessels focus on “joint response to maritime security threats.”
: China’s top legislator Zhao Leji pays official goodwill visit to Russia and attends 9th meeting on parliamentary cooperation. Putin meets Zhao in St Petersburg on July 11.
: China and Belarus conduct an 11-day joint anti-terrorist exercise code-named “Attacking Falcon 2024” in Belarus close to borders with Poland (5 klm) and Ukraine (60 klm).
: Chinese and Russian navies conduct 15-day joint patrol of the Western Pacific and the South China Sea. Three Chinese naval ships and the Russian corvette Sovershenny of the Pacific Fleet participate in the 4th joint patrol. Unlike the previous two patrols, which were an extension of the annual “Northern/Interaction” series, this was a separate operation.
: Foreign Ministers Wang Yi and Lavrov meet on the sidelines of the BRICS foreign ministers meeting in Nizhny Novgorod of Russia.
: China and Russia hold a “high-level think tank forum” in Moscow. More than 100 representatives join. It was launched in 2018 by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).
: China’s special envoy for the Ukraine crisis Li Hui conducts his 3rd shuttle diplomacy by traveling to Turkeyk, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
May 16-17, 2024: Russian President Putin pays official visit to China. He and Chinese President Xi Jinping hold “a sincere and cordial meeting covering many topics.” The two sign a joint statement on deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between their two nations. After Beijing, Putin visits China’s northernmost provincial city Harbin, the most Russianized city in China. He co-chairs the opening ceremony of the 8th Sino-Russian Expo, visits a Chinese tech university and Saint Sophia Cathedral (built in 1907), the largest Russian Orthodox church in the Far East.
May 20, 2024: Chinese FM Wang Yi and Russian FM Lavrov meet on the sideline of SCO’s annual foreign ministerial meeting in Astana of Kazakhstan.
May 16-17, 2024: Russian President Putin pays official visit to China. He and Chinese President Xi Jinping hold “a sincere and cordial meeting covering many topics.” The two sign a joint statement on deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between their two nations. After Beijing, Putin visits China’s northernmost provincial city Harbin, the most Russianized city in China. He co-chairs the opening ceremony of the 8th Sino-Russian Expo, visits a Chinese tech university and Saint Sophia Cathedral (built in 1907), the largest Russian Orthodox church in the Far East.
May 20, 2024: Chinese FM Wang Yi and Russian FM Lavrov meet on the sideline of SCO’s annual foreign ministerial meeting in Astana of Kazakhstan.