That day, Xi was awarded an honorary doctorate from St Petersburg State University, Putin’s alma mater. Putin, who in April received an honorary doctoral degree from Tsinghua University – where Xi studied chemical engineering – described the Chinese president as “an expert and an academic” for his leading role in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Xi is no stranger to such exchanges at diplomatic venues, as in 2014 when he attended Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday dinner and sent a telegram marking the birthday of Zimbabwe’s former dictator, Robert Mugabe.

This personal interaction, however, does not always translate into closer partnerships at state level.

Modi was the only leader to openly snub an invitation from Beijing to attend the 2017 Belt and Road Initiative Summit and he remains sceptical about Xi’s signature diplomatic project.

Mugabe, who described Xi as “a true friend”, was forced to resign after a coup in 2017, soon after the country’s military chief rounded off a visit to Beijing.

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Xi has been cautious about openly referring to such personal ties, but Putin seems to be the exception.

While US Donald President Trump repeatedly called Xi “a great friend”, Xi himself – or the Chinese side – has never reciprocated. Nor did Beijing officially respond to Trump’s later remark that Xi “may not be a friend of mine any more”.

Trump has claimed he enjoyed a strong rapport with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, despite walking away from negotiations with the supreme leader in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February.

“Trump spoke of great ties with Xi mostly to constrain the Chinese side,” said Zhang Lifan, a Beijing-based political commentator. “But the Chinese side is more serious about Xi’s ties with Putin, although it was also a protest against Trump.

“Xi appreciates Putin’s character as a political strongman, and needs the help of Russia in facing off against the US.

“But power relations built on personal ties don’t seem to sustain well,” Zhang added.

The extent of their friendship was clear from the start of Xi’s trip this week, when the Chinese leader called Putin his “best friend” before departing for Moscow.

“We have communicated extensively on the broadest range of issues, including international situations, bilateral ties and domestic governance,” Xi told Russian media. “We have also talked about literature, art and sport … President Putin is the foreign colleague that I have interacted with most extensively. He is my best friend, and I greatly treasure our friendship.”

The men watched ice hockey matches together, and celebrated Putin’s birthday at an Asian leaders’ summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, Xi said.

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“I’ve met with President Putin almost 30 times since 2013,” he said. “I often joyfully recall every interaction I had with him.”

The emphasis on their personal ties was written into a joint statement issued during Xi’s visit that announced relations had entered a “New Era”, a phrase enshrined in China’s constitution to underline Xi’s elevated political status.

“[We shall] ensure the close interaction of our state leaders, via mutual visits, meetings, hotlines and letters of our state leaders,” the statement said.

Their relationship will also be ensured by an arrangement that involved their chiefs of staff, it said.

While Moscow and Beijing announced closer relations at a time when both were under fire from the US – Russia for its occupation in Crimea and interference with the 2016 US presidential election, and China for the trade war – the leaders’ ties have been warm since Xi’s ascent to power in 2012.

Russia was the destination of Xi’s first overseas stops in both his presidential terms, which started in 2013 and 2018. Putin also spoke to Xi by phone on the latter’s 60th and 65th birthday, also in 2013 and 2018.

According to Russian media reports, during Xi’s first trip to Russia in March 2013 – a week after he was confirmed as China’s president – Xi told Putin that they shared “very similar personalities”.

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Li Lifan, an international relations professor at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that Xi and Putin’s friendship was played up now as a contrast to the bleak exchanges between Chinese and Russian leaders of the past.

“Chinese people still have hard feelings about Russia for occupying Chinese land … The emphasis of state leaders’ personal ties aims to set an example to change that,” Li said.