How Xi Jinping builds cross-border friendships

During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China in May, Chinese President Xi Jinping invited him to view a photo exhibition highlighting the enduring friendship between the two countries at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

As they walked through the exhibition, the two presidents observed photographs capturing their close interactions and the tangible progress in China-Russia cooperation. They then paused before a photograph showing Red Square in Moscow, a place familiar to both.

The photograph, taken on 9 May 2025 during celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War, showed Xi seated between Putin and Russian World War II veteran Evgeny Znamensky.

Znamensky’s jacket was adorned with medals earned for his wartime service. In the photograph, the two leaders appeared to be chatting warmly with the veteran.

Recalling the warm moment of their meeting in Moscow more than a year earlier, the 100-year-old veteran said the temperature that day was below 10 degrees Celsius.

“President Xi was worried I might be cold and specifically asked that I be given a blanket.”

Deeply moved by the gesture, Znamensky said he greatly appreciated Xi’s kindness. The blanket may have been a small act, but it reflected one of the core principles of Chinese diplomacy.

“Friendship, which grows from close people-to-people ties, is the key to sound state-to-state relations,” Xi said when presenting this view at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in 2017, as reported by Xinhua.

During his overseas visits and various diplomatic activities, Xi has forged friendships with people around the world through sincerity and mutual respect. Even amid a packed schedule, Xi always makes time to meet people from all walks of life.

Xi has shown the same warmth and attentiveness when meeting young people.

His warm smile and friendly manner have created countless memorable moments, while building bridges of mutual understanding and friendship across borders.

During his visit to Russia in May 2015, Xi presented commemorative badges to Russian veteran representatives to honour their contributions to victory in the World Anti-Fascist War.

After noticing Russian veteran Gaverdovsky struggling to keep his balance while walking, Xi said to him, “I will come to you and present this badge to you! You do not need to move.” Xi then walked quickly over to Gaverdovsky and handed him the badge.

Gaverdovsky said after the ceremony that he was deeply touched by the sincere attention and care shown by the Chinese president.

In May 2024, Xi paid a state visit to Hungary. Among those welcoming the Chinese leader was a Hungarian girl named Olah Tamara, who had presented flowers to Xi when he visited the country as China’s vice president in 2009.

After being told that she was the same girl who had given him flowers 15 years earlier, Xi remembered the encounter. “You have grown up now. Back then you were only this tall,” he said, gesturing with his hand.

The brief conversation seemed to transcend space and time in an instant. Deeply moved, Olah admitted she never imagined Xi still remembered her. “He was so warm and friendly,” she said.

Similar moments have also marked Xi’s overseas trips. When greeting children in Germany on a rainy day, he reminded them to keep warm so they would not catch a cold.

In Australia, he took time to meet primary school pupils who had written to him, inviting them to visit China on a study tour and encouraging them to keep writing letters. When visiting a high school in Washington State in the United States, he chatted with students about sport, music and young people.

When meeting workers and farmers, Xi is known for his unassuming manner and deep sincerity.

Having worked and lived alongside farmers in his youth, Xi has always maintained a close bond with them.

While walking through a family’s small coffee plantation, Xi stopped several times to ask the host, Marco Tulio Zamora, about the cultivation, production and sale of coffee.

For Zamora, the conversation was an unforgettable moment. He said he rarely saw a leader of another country visit an ordinary family like his, adding that his family felt deeply honoured.

During his visit to Serbia in 2016, Xi toured the Smederevo Steel Plant. Inside the vast and busy hot-rolled steel production area, machines roared and heat filled the room. Xi occasionally paused to observe the production process closely and ask detailed questions about the plant’s operations.

Later, Xi visited the staff canteen. What drew his attention most was the daily lives of the workers. Nenad Cvetanovic, a veteran employee at the Smederevo Steel Plant, still remembers the surge of enthusiasm among workers when the Chinese leader said the plant “would certainly be revitalised.”

“President Xi’s interaction with us felt deeply etched in the hearts of the workers at this steel plant. His concern for us was so sincere from the bottom of his heart, giving us a strong sense of security and hope,” he said.

During a visit to a farming family in Costa Rica in 2013, he recalled his experience working in rural China, saying that he had once been a farmer and understood well the ins and outs of Chinese farmers’ lives.

Founded in 1913, the Smederevo Steel Plant was once considered the “pride of Serbia”. However, by the late 1990s, declining competitiveness and weak management dragged the plant to the brink of closure. In 2016, China’s HBIS Group acquired the plant. Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, the plant underwent a remarkable transformation, regaining its position as one of the main drivers of Serbian exports.

In 2024, 30 Serbian workers from the steel plant wrote to Xi, sharing the story of the plant’s development and expressing gratitude for his support, which contributed to the project’s success.

In his reply, Xi expressed his delight at learning that the steel plant had managed to turn from losses to profits within a short time after receiving investment from a Chinese-funded company.

The plant’s development, he said, was inseparable from the dedication and hard work of the workers who had laboured tirelessly for the rapid growth of the steel plant, writing a new chapter in the steel-strong friendship between China and Serbia.

“I give you a thumbs up,” Xi wrote in the letter.