China and Russia have wrapped up their 31st regular meeting of heads of government in St Petersburg with a joint communique that opposes attempts by outside powers to dictate political and security arrangements in Eurasia, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency and a Kremlin readout of the talks.
Source: Xinhua via People's Daily
Chinese Premier Li Qiang co-chaired the meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Wednesday and also met President Vladimir Putin. Li said China and Russia had in recent years stood side by side in a complex and turbulent international landscape, and that their comprehensive strategic partnership was entering a new stage, Xinhua reported.
The joint declaration, issued on Thursday, said both governments opposed external interference as a source of instability across the continent and pledged support for one another's core interests, with China reaffirming its support for Russia's sovereignty, security and internal stability. That language is the two governments' own assessment of the region's politics.
Putin told Li that Russia-China relations were developing successfully and were not directed against any country, the Kremlin readout said. He said agricultural trade turnover between the two countries rose 34% in the first eight months of 2026, and that the two presidents would have another opportunity to meet at the APEC summit in Shenzhen this November.
Energy, transport and settlements in focus
Both sides said practical cooperation would expand in energy and resources, trade and investment, and transportation. Li said China was ready to work with Russia to strengthen strategic communication and consolidate political trust, Xinhua reported. Meeting summaries also pointed to work on border checkpoints and the Northern Sea Route for cargo transit.
The meetings were part of an established diplomatic mechanism running for three decades, not an emergency summit, and no new military alliance was announced. The communique lands, however, as both capitals push back against Western pressure — Russia over its war in Ukraine and China over Taiwan, the Arctic and the South China Sea.
Source: Kremlin readout via meeting reports
What is solid
- Li Qiang and Mikhail Mishustin co-chaired the 31st regular heads-of-government meeting in St Petersburg, and Li met Vladimir Putin (Xinhua; Kremlin).
- A joint communique was issued opposing external interference in Eurasia and pledging support for each other's core interests.
- Putin said bilateral agricultural trade rose 34% in the first eight months of 2026.
What is only claimed
- Whether 'external interference' is the main source of instability in Eurasia is the two governments' own characterisation, not an independently established finding.
- No trilateral Xi-Putin-Trump summit has been officially confirmed, despite speculation around the APEC meeting in Shenzhen.
A tighter Beijing-Moscow alignment shapes energy flows, shipping routes and sanctions politics far beyond Eurasia — including oil and gas supplies that reach India and the Gulf-linked trade routes Punjabi and Indian workers and businesses depend on.