German media outlets have been closely watching the Beijing summit between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, with several prominent newspapers offering pointed analyses of what the meeting reveals about the shifting global balance of power.
The Handelsblatt argues that China is positioning itself as the gravitational center of a new world order — a nation that Washington, Moscow, and many others now feel compelled to visit. While this narrative carries a propagandistic edge, the paper acknowledges a real underlying truth: Russia needs China more than ever. Moscow’s war economy depends heavily on energy export revenues, and China is buying those exports in large volumes. That Putin brought along the heads of Gazprom and Rosneft signals clearly what was at the top of his Beijing agenda — energy, financing, and the uncomfortable exposure of Russia’s wartime vulnerabilities.
The Volksstimme of Magdeburg sees Russia as a textbook example of a powerful but ultimately dependent state under China’s system of influence. China does rely on Russian oil and gas, but Russian dependence runs deeper: Chinese goods — from cars to refrigerators — have become indispensable to a country mired in a war of its own making.
The Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung notes that Xi Jinping has little incentive to distance himself from Russia, given Moscow’s value as both a geopolitical partner and energy supplier. Yet beneath the surface, the asymmetry is growing. Russia needs China far more than the reverse, and the much-touted “strategic partnership” is increasingly a one-sided arrangement.
Finally, the Süddeutsche Zeitung frames it most starkly: the missteps of Trump and Putin are becoming Xi’s opportunity. As both Washington and Moscow entangle themselves in costly conflicts, Beijing is quietly and unimpeded consolidating its dominance.
Source: Radio France International, May 20, 2026
https://rfi.my/Cift