Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in China

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China on Tuesday to meet President Xi Jinping, bolstering their relationship at a summit that will be overshadowed by the Israel-Gaza conflict.

This week, China welcomes representatives of 130 countries for a forum of President Xi's landmark project, the Belt and Road Initiative. Putin is at the top of the invitation list and his plane landed in China just before 09:30 am local time. He is due to meet Xi for talks on Wednesday. Experts expect few big surprises during the Russian Leader's visit to China, seeing the meeting as more a symbolic gesture of support for Moscow.