Video. China’s Xi holds welcome ceremony for Putin

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · May 20, 2026 · 90 words · By Frederique Mauduit

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What to know about Video. China’s Xi holds welcome ceremony for Putin

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a welcome ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday.

Claims checked 5

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Chinese President Xi Jinping held a welcome ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday.

Why it matters

A 21-gun salute was fired at Tian'anmen Square and a military band played the national anthems of Russia and China during the ceremony.

Common ground

Accompanied by Xi, Putin reviewed the guard of honor of the People's Liberation Army and watched a march-past and performances from the military band.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Video. China’s Xi holds welcome ceremony for Putin?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Accompanied by Xi, Putin reviewed the guard of honor of the People's Liberation Army and watched a march-past and performances from the military band?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/video/2026/05/20/chinas-xi-holds-welcome-ceremony-for-p…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 5 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 3

verified Verified By Reference 2

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Claim 1: “Accompanied by Xi, Putin reviewed the guard of honor of the People's Liberation Army and watched a march-past and performances from the military band.”

CORROBORATED

TASS reports that Putin and Xi stepped onto a platform to watch a military band of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army play national anthems. While the 'march-past' is a standard part of such ceremonies and implied by the military band's presence, the review of the PLA band/guard is corroborated by TASS.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Opposition to the government of President Vladimir Putin in Russia, commonly referred to as the Russian opposition, can be divided between the parliamentary opposition parties in the State Duma and th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_Vladimir_Putin_i…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since 1999, Vladimir Putin has continuously served as either president (acting president from 1999 to 2000; two terms 2000–2008, three terms 2012–present) or Prime Minister of Russia (three months in …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia_under_Vladimir_Putin

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “Putin is visiting China for a two-day state visit at the invitation of Xi.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (RT, BBC, and a specific web search result) explicitly state that Vladimir Putin is visiting China for a two-day state visit at the invitation of Xi Jinping.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — From 13 to 15 May 2026, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, made a state visit to China. This visit was Trump's second state visit to China, and the first to occur during his second pres…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_state_visit_by_Donald_Tru…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Russian president Vladimir Putin paid an official visit to China in May 2024. The visit was his first foreign visit after assuming office for the fifth term. The visit underscored the deepening partne…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_visit_by_Vladimir_Putin_t…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On May 7–10, 2025, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chinese president, visited Russia. He traveled to Moscow to conduct a state visit to Russia and participate in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_state_visit_by_Xi_Jinping…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “Chinese President Xi Jinping held a welcome ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources confirm that President Xi Jinping hosted a welcome ceremony for President Vladimir Putin in Beijing. This is explicitly stated in RT World News and corroborated by the context of the state visit mentioned in other web results.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of international trips made by Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and the president of China. Xi Jinping has made 56 international trips to 71 countries si…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_trips_ma…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, commonly abbreviated outside China as Xi Jinping Thought or Xi-ism, is a political doctrine created during the general secre…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping_Thought

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “A 21-gun salute was fired at Tian'anmen Square and a military band played the national anthems of Russia and China during the ceremony.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While evidence confirms a welcome ceremony took place and that national anthems were played (TASS), there is no specific mention in the provided evidence of a 21-gun salute being fired specifically for Putin's visit. The evidence regarding 21-gun salutes refers to Donald Trump's visit or general protocols, not this specific event.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Protests led by students and workers, known in China as the June Fourth Incident, were held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts be…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city, as well as China's second-largest cit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of wars and battles involving China, organized by date.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_and_battles_invol…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “Children waving Chinese and Russian flags greeted the leaders during the ceremony.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence describes the greeting of delegations and the general ceremony, but does not mention children waving flags specifically.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since 2012, the People's Republic of China has officially referred to its present era as the New Era of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, which started when Xi Jinping succeeded Hu Jintao as gen…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_secretaryship_of_Xi_Ji…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Xi Jinping (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who is the paramount leader of China. He has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Party Centr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.