China has been Russia’s ‘rock solid’ partner throughout the conflict in Ukraine. It has refused to condemn the fighting and, according to the US, is in negotiations to send weapons to the front lines. And the Chinese president seems to share a close friendship with Vladimir Putin. But at the same time, China is emerging from its zero-COVID lockdowns and trying to reach out again to the rest of the world. How will the world’s second-largest economy balance its competing interests, and what role can it play in bringing peace to Ukraine?

In this episode: 

• Katrina Yu (@katmyu), Al Jazeera’s China Correspondent

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Miranda Lin, with Ashish Malhotra and Khaled Soltan, and our host, Malika Bilal. Khaled Soltan fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. 

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.

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