Days after hosting Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin, reinforcing China’s emergence as a global power

There is a certain theatre to summitry, and Beijing staged it masterfully. First, Donald Trump arrived, then Vladimir Putin - each travelling thousands of miles to sit across from Xi Jinping in Beijing, now at the centre of geopolitics. The optics were unmistakable: China is now the world’s indispensable interlocutor, and Xi its undisputed convener-in-chief.

The agenda of the Xi-Putin summit, held on Wednesday, was broad in scope and strategic in intent. The two leaders signed documents spanning trade, technology, scientific research and intellectual property, while extending their foundational treaty of “good neighbourliness and friendly........

© The Pioneer