While the trade war between Washington and Beijing continues to flare up, Chinese president Xi Jinping traveled to Russia this week for three days to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin. For Moscow, this visit could not have come at a better time.In his public remarks while in Moscow on Wednesday, the Chinese leader spoke of the growing ties between Russia and China, while also offering thinly veiled criticism of the United States. Xi lauded Putin as “one of my closest friends and a great colleague.” He also stressed the importance of Sino-Russian solidarity at a time when “protectionism and unilateral approaches are on the rise, and a policy of force and hegemonism is increasingly taking hold.”Xi arrived at the St.Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday, an annual event aimed at attracting foreign investors to Russia, with a delegation of one thousand people. The United States was noticeably absent at the forum after announcing that it was boycotting the event over the controversial imprisonment of American investor Michael Calvey by Russian authorities.
