Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping pledged at a meeting in March 2023 to deepen economic cooperation within the framework of a "borderless" partnership. The value of China's exports to Russia in U.S.
dollars rose by 12.8 percent last year. China does not buy Russian oil and gas at a significant discount and seeks to diversify its sources of energy imports. Russia's much-talked about approach to China may not have been as successful as Putin and Xi claim.