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China’s president is set to embark on his first overseas trip in more than two years for a meeting with his Russian counterpart.
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Uzbekistan is set to host a meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin this week, with the leaders expected to discuss developments in Ukraine and in the Taiwan Strait.
The trip marks President Xi’s first overseas trip in over two years and comes just months ahead of the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress.
Kremlin spokesperson Yuri Ushakov confirmed the planned meeting at a briefing in Moscow.
“The presidents will discuss both the bilateral agenda and the main regional and international topics,” Ushakov said.
“Naturally, they will give a positive assessment of the unprecedentedly high level of trust within the bilateral strategic partnership.”
This latest meeting is expected to build on the “no limits” partnership established by President Xi and President Putin in February.
Following their meeting in Beijing, the pair released a statement, which affirmed joint opposition to NATO expansion in eastern Europe, and a commitment to strengthen economic ties.
According to the Kremlin, trade turnover between the countries hit US$140 billion in 2021, and has already reached $93 billion in the first seven months of 2022.
The meeting also comes amid mounting tensions in the Taiwan Strait, particularly off the back of major multi-domain exercises by China’s People’s Liberation Army in the region and continued incursions of Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ).
Chinese military incursions have included the deployment of advanced fighter aircraft and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms.
More recently, China has been flying drones over small islands controlled by Taiwan, resulting in the grounding of at least one drone.
[Related: China blames NSA for cyber-attack on its military research university ]
