Xi and Putin highlight their friendship and cooperation on energy and other issues in Beijing visit

BEIJING (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his close ties with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and said their countries are partners in trade and international affairs as they opened bilateral talks Wednesday on his trip to Beijing.

Xi welcomed Putin with a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People only days after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. The quick succession of Trump’s and Putin’s visits highlighted Beijing’s growing role as an international superpower, experts say.

Putin greeted Xi warmly as they met for bilateral talks at the Great Hall of the People.

“My dear friend,” Putin said. “We are truly delighted to see you. We keep in constant touch, both personally and through our aides in the government.”

Xi also stressed the “political mutual trust and strategic cooperation” between the countries, according to Chinese state media. The two leaders have praised each other profusely in the past, with Xi at one point describing Putin as his “best and most intimate friend.”

Xi and Putin were set to focus on energy and security as well as their overall ties. The two sides agreed to extend a friendship treaty first signed in 2001, Chinese state media reported.

China became Russia’s top trading partner after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Beijing has said it is neutral in the conflict while maintaining trade ties with the Kremlin despite economic and financial sanctions by the U.S. and Europe.

China is the top customer for Russian oil and gas supplies, and Moscow expects the war in Iran to increase the demand.

In his meeting with Xi, Putin stressed their countries’ economic ties.

“The driving force behind economic cooperation is Russian-Chinese collaboration in the energy sector,” Putin said. “Amid the crisis in the Middle East, Russia continues to maintain its role as a reliable supplier of resources, while China remains a responsible consumer of these resources.”

Xi stressed the need of “complete cessation of hostilities” in the Middle East, according to Chinese state media.

“An early end to the conflict will help reduce disruptions to energy supply stability, the smooth flow of industrial and supply chains, and international trade order,” Xi said.

A Russian presidential aide said earlier Russia’s oil exports to China grew by 35% in the first quarter of 2026 and that Russia is one of the biggest exporters of natural gas to China.

Putin also stressed China and Russia’s cooperation in foreign policy as “one of the key stabilizing factors on the international stage.”

“In the current tense situation on the international stage, our close cooperation is particularly in demand,” he said.

In February 2022, just weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia announced a “no limits” partnership during a trip by Putin to Beijing.

Beijing says it is neutral in the conflict, though in practice it supports Moscow through frequent state visits, growing trade and joint military drills. China has also ignored demands from the West to stop providing high-tech components for Russia’s weapons industries.

The two leaders are scheduled to sign cooperation agreements during Putin’s two-day visit.

But regardless of specific deals, the primary purpose of the visit is to reaffirm the countries’ ties as well as project Beijing’s image as an influential superpower, experts say.

“The optics matter,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute at the University of London.

“The message is clearly one that China maintains friendship and strategic partnership with whichever power it likes, and the USA is just one of them.”

Putin and Xi both need to use their close ties in order to prop up their images at home, said Willy Lam, a senior China fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.

Putin “needs to tell his countrymen and the world that Russia has China’s support in terms of buying its oil and gas and other tangible and intangible financial support,” Lam said.

Meanwhile, for Xi, having both Trump and Putin visit in such close succession is a major source of credit with the country’s top Communist leadership.

Putin noted earlier this month that Moscow and Beijing have reached “a very substantial step forward in our cooperation in the oil and gas sector.”

“Practically all the key issues have been agreed upon,” he said. “If we succeed in finalizing these details and bringing them to a conclusion during this visit, I will be extremely pleased.”

Putin also praised their bilateral relationship as a crucial, balancing force in international relations.

“Interaction between such nations as China and Russia undoubtedly serves as a factor of deterrence and stability,” he said.

Moscow welcomes China’s dialogue with the U.S. as another stabilizing element for the global economy, Putin added.

“We stand only to benefit from this, from the stability and constructive engagement between the U.S. and China,” he said.

Mistreanu reported from Bangkok.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang shake hands during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Kristina Solovyova, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Children holding Russian and Chinese flags walk ahead of a welcoming ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, foreground and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping inspect an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Maxim Shemetov/Pool Photo via AP)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — U.S. Coast Guard crews combed a massive area for three people missing nearly a day after a boat carrying 20 family members and friends as part of a memorial service capsized in the cold, choppy waters of San Francisco Bay near Alcatraz Island, authorities said Wednesday.

U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jared S. Toczko said rescuers have cumulatively scoured 950 square nautical miles (3,260 square kilometers) and will continue searching until sundown Wednesday before ending rescue efforts.

Toczko would not dismiss the possibility that those missing could still be alive, though he also said some could have been trapped inside the three-deck, 49-foot (15-meter) cabin cruiser.

“We do know individuals were in the main deck and potentially below deck," he said.

One person was pulled from the water but later died, and 16 others were rescued Tuesday afternoon after the boat took on water, listed heavily to one side and then rolled over before sinking, Toczko said.

The passengers on board were all close friends and family members, he said. A dog also died.

Crews have identified the location the boat sank but have yet to determine how deep it sank, Toczko said.

Once the boat is located, officials will send either divers or an underwater drone to determine if it's feasible to salvage it, said San Francisco Police Commander Brien Hoo. If the boat is under 120 feet (37 meters) of water, it would be difficult for divers to get to it, he said.

Witnesses reported “rough seas,” San Francisco Fire Department Chief Dean Crispen said, and rescuers said swells reached up to 5 feet (1.5 meters). Marine weather conditions, however, didn't warrant a small craft advisory from the National Weather Service.

Fire department spokesperson Lt. Mariano Elias said the vessel, named Volare, was registered out of Stockton, California, which sits at the eastern edge of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Tockzo said there were life jackets onboard the boat and that some people were rescued wearing them, though witnesses said several people were in the water without them.

Kirk Miller, an experienced local sailor with a master mariner license, said an uneven distribution of passengers could have caused the Volare to tip.

“As it rocks in the waves, it leans over a little bit,” Miller said. “And as it leans over, the stability would decrease. If you had weight down below it acts as ballast. There was nothing in the conditions that were extreme in any regard. There was no massive gust of wind, no huge wave.”

Two rescuers who jumped into action while fishing for halibut said the boat that sank was more than capable of being out in the bay. Justin Marceline and Michael Montoya said they saw what they thought was smoke and arrived to find the vessel halfway submerged.

“We just started yanking people out,” Marceline told The Associated Press. At least two people bobbed in the water without life jackets, while others clung to a windsurfer’s board.

Marceline could see people trapped inside the rapidly sinking boat through its windows. He threw lead fishing weights to survivors in the water, hoping they could smash the glass, but they were too weak.

“It was like Titanic in real life,” he said. “There was stuff everywhere. People were banging on the glass.”

Montoya estimated they pulled eight or nine people aboard, including the captain, before first responders arrived.

Initial callers reported what appeared to be smoke coming from the boat, but San Francisco police officers who first reached the vessel said it was steam.

Sudden immersion in water under 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius) can lead to cold water shock, a condition where people lose dexterity in minutes. That can be dangerous or deadly when trying to escape a sinking watercraft.

The person who died was identified as Clifford Boisa, 79, from rural Sutter County in the Sacramento Valley, the San Francisco medical examiner said.

The owners of the boat are John Boisa and Miriam Boisa of Stockton, Coast Guard records show. They did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Boisa declined to answer questions from reporters about the victims or why they were on the boat.

“All of us are grieving during this time,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

A Coast Guard cutter named the Barracuda, other vessels and a fixed-wing aircraft were involved in the search, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Petty Officer Kenneth Wiese said. Teams were using thermal imaging, tide prediction and modeling to guide their efforts, the fire department said.

The boat departed a San Francisco marina, passed under the Golden Gate Bridge twice and visited Angel Island State Park, the largest natural island in the bay. It was on its way back to San Francisco when it sank near Alcatraz, according to the ship-tracking website VesselFinder.

“The wind was coming underneath the Golden Gate and blowing toward Alcatraz,” said Lt. Joseph England of the Richmond Police Department, who responded to the scene. “If you have a smaller vessel and you don’t know what you’re doing and you’re hitting those swells sideways, it can lead to disaster.”

The maximum-security federal prison at Alcatraz Island, which closed more than 60 years ago, was infamously inescapable due to the chilly waters and strong currents that surround "The Rock.” It is now a popular tourist attraction, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) off San Francisco.

Associated Press writers Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Ed White in Detroit; Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles; and photographer Noah Berger in San Francisco contributed to this story.

First responders stand near a body after a boat accident near Alcatraz Island off San Francisco, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A police boat passes Alcatraz Island as search and rescue operations continue for victims of a Tuesday boat sinking on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

People cover themselves with American Red Cross blankets at Fort Mason, where the Red Cross has set up an assistance center for people impacted by a boat incident in the waters off San Francisco Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

A body is covered with a tarp on a dock near the site of boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A U.S. Coast Guard crew goes past Alcatraz Island near the site of a pontoon boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A San Francisco Fire Department vessel passes the city skyline while searching for missing victims after a boat accident near Alcatraz Island off San Francisco, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A body is covered with a tarp on a dock near the site of boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A helicopter flies past the Golden Gate Bridge while searching for missing victims after a boat accident near Alcatraz Island off San Francisco, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)