The current state of China-Russia-US relations

As Xi hosts Trump and Putin, Beijing is proving it can engage both powers at once without turning global politics into a zero-sum game These days all the world is closely following the high-level international meetings in China. US President Donald Trump just completed his first state visit to China since his trip in November 2017. On May 19, another top foreign guest will arrive on a two-day state visit: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Unlike his American colleague, Putin has always regarded Beijing as one of his preferred international travel destinations; the last time he was here was less than a year ago, in September 2025. The two sequential trips symbolize the growing importance of China as a global player; Beijing has become an indispensable actor in critical dimensions of world politics and economy. More than ‘business as usual’ The two summits are not a sudden and unexpected outburst of diplomatic activities. Since the beginning of the year, China has seen many top foreign statesmen, including South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, not to mention a long string of foreign ministers, defense ministers and other high-ranking officials. While the sheer number of foreign leaders going to China is impressive, what is even more so is the diversity: Major powers and mid-size states, close neighbors and remote overseas lands, and Global North and Global South nations. The flood of high-level guests demonstrates the fast-growing breadth of China’s international connections and its principles of equal and open major-country diplomacy, featuring non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties. It also reflects China’s clear stance: Managing differences through dialogue, pursuing stability through cooperation and promoting win-win outcomes through practical actions.

It sends a strong message to the world that China has been consistently acting as a builder of peace, contributor to development and defender of international order, fulfilling its responsibilities as a major country. China’s principles are reflected in the four strategic visions outlined by President Xi Jinping: The Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative. Read more Why world attention is turning eastward as global leaders visit China Both Trump and Putin are very special visitors for China. The US remains the main superpower in the world with a profound impact on the global international system. Americans are leading in many hi-tech areas, from semiconductor design to quantum computing. Russia is a long-time close strategic partner of China and the largest foreign supplier of oil and gas. Overall China-US trade experienced a visible decline in 2025, but nonetheless accounted for $414.69 billion with a lot of potential for further growth. The China-Russia trade was more modest, but still impressive – $228.1 billion in 2025. From January to April in 2026, it demonstrated a nearly 20% increase and continues to grow. No wonder then that the May state visits of US and Russia’s presidents go beyond diplomatic “business as usual.” If we take a closer look at the current state of China-Russia-US relations, is a Beijing-Moscow partnership by definition hostile to US national interests? Does China have to choose between Russia and the US? Is late American diplomat Henry Kissinger’s approach to the global geopolitical triangle – maintaining good relations with China taking advantage of its then distance from the Soviet Union – still valid or should it be dismissed as archaic and misplaced? No ‘zero-sum game’ anymore Some claim that there is a natural affinity