General Zhang Shengmin, vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, received Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov in Beijing in his first publicly reported meeting with a foreign official since he became a member of the Politburo.

At the meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Zhang pledged to deepen military cooperation and strategic coordination with Russia. According to Reuters, in a text republished by Internazionale, Zhang and President Xi Jinping are the only two active members of China’s supreme military command, after five of the seven members appointed in a 2022 reshuffle were purged.