Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed to take his country’s ties with Russia to a new level this year in a video conference with counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, hours after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

Speaking with Putin in a video meeting, Xi called for coping with uncertainties of the external environment with the stability and resilience of China-Russia relations, jointly promoting the development and revitalization of the two countries, and upholding international fairness and justice.

FILE PHOTO: Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping take part in an official welcoming ceremony for delegations' heads at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, 23 October 2024. MAXIM SHIPENKOV/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Following Trump's inauguration, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin held a virtual meeting to strengthen bilateral relations between China and Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call Tuesday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing the two countries’ close ties, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th

Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed ties with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as the two face a more geopolitically assertive US government led by Donald Trump, who criticised the Kremlin's war against Ukraine on the first day of his second term as president.

We build our ties on the basis of friendship, mutual trust and support, equality and mutual benefit. These connections are self-sufficient, independent of domestic political factors and the current global situation,

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping share a broad world view, which portrays the West as decadent and in decline as China challenges U.S. supremacy in many areas.

Trump has wielded tariffs as a frequent threat against friends and adversaries, and for the US promised additional revenue from them would help fund his domestic priorities. The US leader threatened on his second day in office to put 10% tariffs on China as soon as Feb. 1 for allowing fentanyl to “pour” into America.

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Trump has reason to avoid alienating Beijing with early trade salvos, as he tries to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin — a close diplomatic partner of Xi — to end the war in Ukraine. “They have a great deal of power over that situation,” Trump said of China, during a Thursday video address to the World Economic Forum in Davos.