Chinese leader Li Zhanshu to visit Russia next week: report
BEIJING: China’s top lawmaker, Li Zhanshu, is scheduled to visit Russia next week, state media reported Sunday.
Beijing and Moscow have grown closer in recent years, strengthening what they call a “borderless” relationship, acting as a counterbalance to US global domination.
Meanwhile, tensions between China and the West have increased as Beijing refused to condemn Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine and offered diplomatic protection by blowing up Western sanctions and arms sales to Kyiv.
Chinese leader Li Zhanshu to visit Russia next week: report
Li, who is third in the Chinese government hierarchy, will make an official visit to Russia, Mongolia, Nepal, and South Korea from Wednesday until Sept. 17, according to the Xinhua News Agency. He will attend the four-day Eastern Economic Forum starting Monday in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Li, 72, is set to step down from his role in the Communist Party next month at a landmark meeting where President Xi Jinping plans to secure his third consecutive term in office, breaking precedent.
Mr. Xi himself has not left China since the Covid-19 pandemic began in early 2020.
China’s top legislator Li Zhanshu to visit #DPRK Saturday as special representative of President Xi Jinping, and attend celebrations to mark 70th anniversary of #DPRK‘S founding pic.twitter.com/5Q4T0Giwae
— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) September 4, 2018
