Gerasimov Invites Top Chinese General to Visit Russia to ‘Expand Military Cooperation’

Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s top general, has held a video conversation with his Chinese counterpart, Liu Zhenli, during which the pair pledged to continue joint military training exercises and cooperation, according to Russian news agencies.

It was also reported that Gerasimov extended an invitation for Liu to visit Russia, telling him: “I am convinced that your extensive experience will contribute both to the development of the Chinese armed forces and to the expansion of military cooperation between our countries.”

Liu Zhenli is a former commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Ground Forces and is the current Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission. 

President Xi has appeared to increase collaboration with Russia in a number of areas since the war with Ukraine began, leading to the United States accusing Beijing of backing the Kremlin’s war efforts. China has so far been reluctant to provide Moscow with weaponry, despite some commercially available Chinese equipment appearing on the Ukrainian battlefield.

There was, however, a suggestion this month that Beijing may be moving to provide more serious military hardware to Russia. This view was reinforced by a video posted by Ramzan Kadyrov the Head of the Chechen Republic, whose forces, nicknamed “kadyrovites,” are formally part of the Russian National Guard. Kadyrov’s forces have actively participated in the war against Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

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The vehicles shown in the video seem to be the commercial “export” version of the ZFB-05 Xinxing armored personnel carrier, manufactured by the Shaanxi Baoji Special Vehicles Manufacturing company, which is in service with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). 

It is still unclear whether these vehicles were sourced directly from China or elsewhere. China has exported the Tiger to several other countries primarily to police or internal security units often as military aid. China considers the vehicle to be a “dual use” rather than a dedicated military vehicle for which export authorization from Beijing is not, therefore, required.

This, combined with the reports of senior Chinese military leaders being in contact with leaders of Russia’s armed forces, could be a significant development.