In the past year an economic downturn, persistent youth unemployment and a property crisis have plagued China at home. Abroad, Beijing has expanded its cooperation with Russia despite warnings from Western leaders that a closer alliance between the two countries is a source of growing concern.
In 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held three bilateral meetings. The two militaries also conducted several joint exercises in different parts of the world this year.
From Ukraine and BRICS to bilateral economic ties and the multilateral system, the “no limits” relationship that Beijing and Moscow announced just before Russia invaded Ukraine continued to live up to its name said analysts.
Their “frequent engagement shows that both countries are focused on their relationship and despite many barriers and issues that they had to deal with,” said Philipp Ivanov, a non-resident senior fellow at Asia Society told VOA on November 28.
During their meetings, Xi and Putin repeatedly highlighted the importance of their bilateral cooperation.
“With the concerted efforts of the two sides, China-Russia relations have been moving forward steadily, with enhanced comprehensive strategic coordination and further cooperation on economy and trade, investment, energy, people-to-people exchanges, at the subnational level and in other fields,” Xi said during his meeting with Putin in Beijing on May 16.
Ivanov said the relationship between the two neighboring countries has been mutually beneficial.
“Russia has become quite dependent on China in terms of the supplies of electronics and manufacturing equipment,” he told VOA in a video interview last Thursday. “Beijing has been benefiting from the discounted energy prices that Russia provides.”
Promoting a multipolar world order
China and Russia have also been seeking to promote an alternative “multipolar” world order that challenges the global system led by the United States in 2024.
Part of that effort to promote the multipolar world order has come through the expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, also called SCO, and BRICS, an informal group of states that originally included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BRICS has since expanded to include other countries from Africa and the Middle East.
In 2024, Belarus became the latest country to join SCO and in July, Minsk held joint military exercises with China near the border of Poland and Ukraine. Meanwhile, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia formally applied to join BRICS this year.
Experts say the push has been appealing to some middle-power countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Brazil.
These countries “feel they can increase their own power through multilateral institutions like BRICS and SCO because they can play bigger roles in these organizations,” Sari Arho Havren, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told VOA on November 28.
As the idea of a multipolar world order appeals to more Global South countries, Arho Havren said it strengthens China’s efforts to portray itself as the leader of the Global South.
“During the G20 Summit in Brazil, Xi Jinping portrayed China’s governance model as a model for developing countries, and I think that reflects China’s growing confidence in presenting itself as a leader of the Global South,” she told VOA by phone.
The Global South generally refers to countries listed as “developing” by the United Nations but also includes China and several wealthy Gulf states. China and Russia have stepped up their use of the grouping to highlight efforts to support the developing world and grow the political, military and economic influence.
While more countries express interest in joining multilateral institutions like BRICS, some analysts say their motivation may not be the same as Beijing and Moscow’s anti-West agenda.
China and Russia “are trying to shift BRICS into some sort of anti-Western grouping, but not many countries in the Global South are on board with the idea,” said Manoj Kewalramani, chairperson of the Indo-Pacific Studies Program at the Takshashila Institution in India.
“A lot of countries enter BRICS because they see it as [a platform that gives them] a collective voice to share their grievances with regard to lack of representation in global governance and the ability to shape global rules,” he told VOA in a Zoom interview on November 29.
Deterring the US and its allies
China and Russia also increased joint military exercises in 2024, holding military drills and patrols in the South China Sea, the Arctic, the Mediterranean and the Sea of Japan.
Ivanov at the Asia Society said China and Russia are trying to use the joint military drills to “demonstrate that they have sufficient military capabilities to deter the U.S.”
He added, “The exercises are also opportunities for China and Russia to test the limits of their military cooperation.”
“As they exercise together more and do it in different places, it creates a certain connection between the two militaries, which is the most important ingredient that’s currently missing in the China-Russia relations,” Ivanov said.
Despite increased military cooperation with Russia in different parts of the world, Ivanov said China is still largely focused on modernizing its military and preparing for contingency scenarios in Taiwan and the South China Sea.
“The exercises with Russia are essentially experiments for the Chinese military to operate far away from its borders and it’s too early to assess how ambitious China’s global military strategy may be,” he said.
As countries around the world prepare for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, Arho Havren said China will seek to grow its influence in different parts of the world where Washington might reduce its presence.
“Wherever the U.S. takes a less-strong position, China will be ready to fill the vacuum,” she told VOA.
