Xi's Russia trip can promote closer policy coordination

President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Russia early next month, and attend the 23rd St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Officially, the visit is meant to "tamp the political foundation" of China-Russia relations, ascertain greater mutual support on core interests as well as matters of common and mutual concern, make sure the relationship stays elements-proof in the capricious international climate, and open up brighter prospects for pragmatic cooperation "in all realms".

But that certainly will not be the sole reason for the coming visit to attract third-party attention. Indeed, it does matter how these two sizable neighbors position and orient their relationship in a less-than-friendly international environment, which Beijing has described as a time of "great changes not seen in a hundred years".