Role of collaboration emphasized

Global experts said that cooperation between China and Russia is vital in today's volatile world, highlighting the role of their collaboration in helping bolster multilateralism and foster stability.

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to China from Tuesday to Wednesday, which also marked his 25th trip to the country. President Xi Jinping and Putin held talks, chatted over tea, visited a photo exhibition, and witnessed the signing of a slew of cooperation documents in Beijing.

The two presidents hailed a "new stage" in bilateral ties as they agreed to further extend a China-Russia friendship treaty and pledged to work together for a more just and equitable world order.

Maarij Farooq, deputy editor-in-chief at Daily Ittehad Media Group & Pakistan Economic Net, said the growing strategic coordination between China and Russia is becoming increasingly important in today's changing global environment.

Stronger cooperation between two major global powers like China and Russia can play a constructive and stabilizing role in the region and beyond, Farooq said. "Their coordination on global issues reflects the emergence of a more balanced and multipolar world order where countries seek dialogue, development, and cooperation instead of confrontation and pressure politics."

Karori Singh, former director of the South Asia Studies Centre at the University of Rajasthan in India, said that China and Russia, being founding members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS, are endowed with greater responsibility to ensure fairness and justice in global governance.

Commitment reiterated

As the world shares deep concerns about the deteriorating global economic situation, China and Russia "reiterated their commitment to the United Nations' purposes and principles, international law, multilateralism and global governance", he said.

During Putin's visit, China and Russia issued a joint statement, advocating for a multipolar world and a new type of international relations.

Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, said the declaration of Russia and China can be considered an alternative proposal on the architecture of global security, showing it's realistic to gather a wide group of developing countries that are afraid of unpredictable actions by some countries.

Lawrence Freeman, a US political-economic analyst and writer, said the geopolitical dynamic in the world is changing, with the Global South set to become the focus.

Anthony Moretti, an associate professor in the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University in the US, said the leaders' summit comes at an important time.

"A multipolar world is inevitable. It would benefit the world if other nations or blocs were willing to acknowledge reality and end any commitments to undermining the trend of the times," Moretti said.

This year marks the launch of the China-Russia Years of Education, which is the 10th national theme year of the two countries.

On the same day, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun announced that, to continue facilitating personnel exchanges, China has decided to extend the visa-free policy to Russia until Dec 31, 2027.

Ilia Yampolsky, senior researcher at the Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the visa-free policy has helped remove travel barriers for scholars and greatly facilitates the exchange of people and ideas.

Alexander Vladimirovich Pikover, senior researcher at the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said, "Now more than ever, it is important for Russia and China to develop mutually enriching humanitarian, scientific and educational contacts and cooperation. It is here that the prospects and development paths will open up, giving hope to the very community with a shared future for humanity."

Yifan Xu in Washington, Liu Hongjie in Moscow, and Xinhua contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at yangran1@chinadaily.com.cn