Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged Monday to deepen their countries’ strategic partnership as they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, where Moscow and Beijing are seeking to strengthen cooperation among non-Western partners amid growing global uncertainty.
Xi warned that the world is facing a growing number of uncertain and unpredictable factors as geopolitical shifts accelerate, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Despite those challenges, he said the global pursuit of "peace, development, cooperation and win-win outcomes" remains unchanged.
Xi said China-Russia relations would continue to strengthen under the strategic guidance of the two leaders and through closer cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.
The two presidents also exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern.
Putin, meanwhile, said Russia was prepared to work with China to make visa-free travel between the two countries permanent, pointing to a sharp increase in cross-border tourism since restrictions were eased.
"We are ready to work together to make the visa-free regime permanent, if the Chinese side considers this possible and useful," Putin said during the meeting.
Russia introduced reciprocal visa-free entry for Chinese citizens in December 2025, allowing stays of up to 30 days, after Beijing had introduced a similar arrangement for Russian travelers. The two sides subsequently agreed to extend visa-free travel through the end of 2027.
Putin said tourist trips between Russia and China increased 43% in the first half of 2026. Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui had earlier said Chinese tourism to Russia rose nearly 50% in the first quarter following the introduction of visa-free travel.
The initiative is part of a broader effort by Moscow and Beijing to expand economic and people-to-people ties as the two countries deepen their strategic partnership.
Putin also held a separate meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit, telling him that Russia's relationship with India continued to strengthen, according to Russian state media.
He is expected to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday as official SCO sessions get underway.
The gathering comes as Russia, more than four years into its invasion of Ukraine, and Iran, six months into a war involving the United States and Israel, seek to reinforce relations with partners outside the Western political and economic sphere.
Founded in 2001 by China, Russia and four Central Asian countries, the SCO has expanded into a 10-member organization comprising China, Russia, India, Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, alongside a group of dialogue partners.
China and Russia have increasingly promoted the organization as a platform for greater Eurasian cooperation and an alternative to Western-dominated international groupings. Beijing has also pushed to broaden the SCO's economic and political role through development initiatives and financial assistance.
Despite its growing reach, the organization is not a unified political or military alliance, with members often pursuing competing strategic interests.
For India, participation offers an opportunity to maintain influence in a region increasingly shaped by competition among major powers despite its differences with fellow SCO members China and Pakistan.
Türkiye, an SCO dialogue partner since 2012, has similarly used the organization as part of its multidimensional foreign policy, maintaining its longstanding NATO and European ties while expanding political and economic engagement across Eurasia.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly expressed Türkiye's interest in eventually becoming a full SCO member.
