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The Chinese leader emphasized the “rapidly developing changes unseen in a century and the turbulent international situation.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to promote “world peace” in a New Year's message to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“No matter how the international situation changes, China will remain steadfast in further comprehensively deepening reforms … and promoting world peace and development,” Xi said on Tuesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
After Putin's full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022. China seeks to present itself as a neutral country – unlike the United States and other Western nations.
But it remains Russia's close political and economic partner, prompting some NATO members to label Beijing a “capable factor” in the war.
According to CCTV, Xi told Putin: “In the face of rapid changes unseen for a century and the turbulent international situation, China and Russia are consistently moving forward hand in hand on the right path of non-alignment, non-alignment, confrontation, not targeting a third party .”
The two presidents share a strong personal bond, with Xi calling his Russian counterpart his “best friend” and Putin, who values his “reliable partner.”
Their relationship has been constant despite a decade of increasing friction with Western countries, exemplified by Russia's war in Ukraine.
Xi noted to Putin that in 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, according to CCTV, “representing a new important milestone in relations between the two countries.”
“After three-quarters of a century of ups and downs, China-Russia relations are becoming more mature and stable,” Xi said.
“everything will be alright”
Russia has strengthened its unity in the first quarter of the 21st century, achieving significant goals and overcoming trials and tribulations, Putin said in his New Year's address.
“And now, on the threshold of the new year, we are thinking about the future. We are convinced that everything will be fine, we will only move forward. We know for sure that the absolute value for us was, is and will be the fate of Russia, the well-being of its citizens,” he said.
Putin paid tribute to Russian soldiers fighting in the war in Ukraine, describing them as “true heroes”, but did not elaborate on the state of the conflict or make predictions about how the situation on the battlefield will play out in 2025.
Meanwhile, in his New Year's speech, Xi said no one could stop China's “unification” with Taiwan, issuing a clear warning to what Beijing sees as pro-independence forces inside and outside the island of 23 million people.
“The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can break our family ties and no one can stop the historical trend of national unification,” the Chinese leader said.
Tensions have remained high throughout the year in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, especially since William Lai Ching-te, considered a “separatist” by Beijing, became the island's last president in May.
