Xi and Putin are pivoting to the Global South. It may not go to plan

China and Russia want stronger ties with developing nations as they try to counter the Western-led world order

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Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin arrive to mark the 75th anniversary of China-Russia relations, in Beijing on May 16. The pair have called for the Global South to unite. Photo: via Reuters

Published: 10:00pm, 29 Jun 2024Updated: 11:37am, 1 Jul 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had a message for the Global South when they met in Beijing last month: unite to become stronger.

China and Russia have drawn closer amid simmering tensions with the West, and both are looking to the Global South – developing nations that together account for 40 per cent of the world’s GDP and 80 per cent of its population.

The pivot is seen by analysts as a powerful narrative to counter the Western-led world order, but they say it may not bring any real change because of diverging Chinese and Russian interests and the reservations of Global South nations.

Both Beijing and Moscow have been making use of multilateral platforms centred on developing nations to expand their roles in global and regional affairs. For example, the Brics group of emerging economies – touted as an alternative to the Group of 7 rich nations, with China and Russia among the founding members – last year invited six new countries to join.

Shoulder to shoulder?

Björn Alexander Düben, a China and Russia specialist at Jilin University in China’s northeast, said it was a “logical strategic choice” for Beijing and Moscow to deepen ties with the Global South, especially since the start of the Ukraine war.

Politically and economically isolated by the West, Russia has become increasingly reliant on China for trade since it invaded Ukraine in 2022. China is meanwhile locked in an intense rivalry with the United States, and faces growing economic pressure and military deterrence from Washington and its allies.