A certain psychological obsequiousness arose when Putin, in order to compliment Xi, told him to “envy a little” the success of China’s development. It is clear that the economic weight above all determines the balance of power between the two unequal twins. China’s GDP is worth $18 trillion after “disappointing” 3% growth in 2022. Russia’s GDP has shrunk to less than $1,800 billion in the past year between war and sanctions.
Putin is happy because trade with China will soon reach $200 billion: a large part of Russian exports are paid for in yuan, making Moscow even more dependent on the majority shareholder. In his calculations, Xi considers that relations between China and the USA are worth 690 billion dollars a year and those with the European Union are worth 850 billion euros: in both cases Beijing has a significant surplus. To put it simply: the cheap oil and gas coming from Siberia is important, but the Chinese economy must at least be anchored on the European coast. Therefore, Xi and Putin are far removed in terms of economic record and attention to their nations’ growth prospects.
The fact remains that the two have met an estimated 40 times, calling each other a “close friend” (Copyright Xi), a “great old friend” (Putin’s word). Human relations seem solid, carefully cultivated: the tsar makes warm welcome calls on every birthday, once he showed up in China with a large fridge full of ice cream that his counterpart is said to be very fond of, other times he wanted to exaggerate by making a sauna of three Had centuries-old Altai cedar wood shipped to Zhongnanhai (Xi’s headquarters next to the Forbidden City). The communist general secretary is more sober: he donated a portrait of Putin, crocheted by the famous Suzhou embroiderers.
They are two power marathon runners. Putin started on a positive note: he has ruled the Russian Federation since 1999. Xi has led the party-state since 2012. He has just entered his third five-year term, he has been careful not to name a possible successor and whether his health will remain a friend might he will be at the top again in 2033 at the age of 80.
They are two practicing athletes. And their sporting passions also describe the different paths. Putin does judo, karate, loves to be immortalized when he rides shirtless, hunts, fishes. One-on-one and “body contact” activities. Even hockey, which he still plays, is tough. The Chinese leader loves football, he dreamed of making China a power because he knows football promotes soft power. The Chinese national team remains a Cinderella. Xi has the physique of a fan rather than a player, but there are photos showing him kicking the ball with power and beautiful style.
They say that Xi is an expert in Weiqi, a very complex, convoluted and patient strategy board game that involves multiple goals at the same time. Checkmate like the chess that Putin likes isn’t necessary; with weiqi, whoever has the slightest advantage in the end, which an untrained eye cannot grasp, wins.
The biggest psychological difference between the two, according to political scientists, was the beginning of their careers. Starting out as a Soviet intelligence officer, Putin was traumatized by the decline and collapse of the USSR. The young party official Xi has served in a China that has been on the rise since the 1980s, witnessing the People’s Republic’s transformation from Maoist pauperism to economic superpower. Moscow’s twin wants to return to the imperial past. The one in Beijing looks ahead, thinks for a long time. Putin is playing, Xi is waiting.
“They may believe that the international order is unfair, even unreasonable,” Zhao Long, deputy director of the China Institute for Global Governance Studies, told Guancha.cn, a nationalist publication in Shanghai. “But their approach to the status quo is significantly different. China wants to reform for its own benefit, not destroy. It is evident that Putin dreamed of a subversive re-establishment of the world order.’