The key facts

  • Putin, at the meeting with Li Qiang, passed wishes to Xi Jinping and recalled three meetings this year
  • A possible next meeting is at the APEC summit in Shenzhen in November
  • Putin wished China success in holding the fifth plenary session of the CPC Central Committee

Passing Greetings and a Reminder of Meetings

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during talks with Chinese State Council Premier Li Qiang, asked him to pass his best wishes to PRC Chairman Xi Jinping. This was reported by TASS. According to Putin, he has already met with Xi Jinping three times this year, and, as agreed, there is a possibility of seeing each other once more — at the APEC summit in Shenzhen in November of this year.

Wishes Regarding the CPC Central Committee Plenum

During the meeting, Putin also wished China success in holding the fifth plenary session of the CPC Central Committee.

Context: Discussion of a Possible Trilateral Meeting

Earlier, economist Mikhail Khazin suggested that a possible meeting between Putin, Donald Trump, and Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in November could become a 'new Yalta.' In his view, there is not yet a single package of agreements between the parties, but the interests of the three powers require a division of spheres of influence; the leaders will 'divide the world and draw new red lines,' and after that, at the G20 summit in Miami, they will announce that everyone now lives in a new way. On October 1, at the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club, Putin stated that the possibility of a trilateral meeting at the APEC summit would largely depend on Xi Jinping as the host of the event. Earlier, the PRC ambassador assessed the impact of a possible meeting between Putin, Trump, and Xi on a multipolar world.