The Chinese and Russian navies will once again conduct a series of joint naval exercises in the Pacific, as part of the bilateral military cooperation that both powers have been deepening in recent years. According to released information, the activities will take place under the title “Joint Sea-2025,” between August 1 and 5, 2025, in waters near Vladivostok, specifically in areas under the jurisdiction of the Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet.
The official announcement, published by both Chinese and Russian state media, not only confirms the continuation of the annual drills but also reinforces the strategic nature of the alliance between Moscow and Beijing. According to Russian military spokespeople, the exercises will include air defense tasks, anti-submarine warfare, escort operations, maritime route protection, and joint command and control actions, divided into three phases.
Although there is no official confirmation, available information suggests that the Chinese units participating will come from the PLA’s Eastern and Northern Theater Commands, including the Type 052D guided missile destroyers Shaoxing and Urumqi, the Type 903 integrated supply ship Qiandaohu, the integrated rescue ship Xihu, fixed-wing aircraft, shipborne helicopters, and personnel from the marine corps. On the Russian side, participants will include the anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs, the corvette Rezky, the rescue ship Igor Belousov, fixed-wing aircraft, shipborne helicopters, and marine corps personnel. The possible participation of submarines is also mentioned.
This new edition falls within the progressive intensification of Sino-Russian military ties in the naval domain. Throughout 2024, the two forces carried out exercises such as Northern/Interaction‑2024, held in the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, simultaneously with Ocean‑2024, a large-scale Russian strategic exercise that also included Chinese participation. During that phase, more than 400 ships, 120 aircraft, and 90,000 troops were mobilized, marking an unprecedented show of force in the region.
Once these deployments conclude, some units from both navies will launch the sixth combined maritime patrol. As a precedent, the year 2024 marked the first time that two combined patrols were conducted in the same calendar year. These included coordinated navigation, at-sea replenishment, anti-submarine drills, air defense, and formation transits through strategic corridors of the Western Pacific.
Finally, from Beijing, the Ministry of Defense stated that this cooperation consists of routine exercises not directed at any particular country, although the West is closely watching the growing level of interoperability between the two powers. Moscow, for its part, maintains that these maneuvers strengthen global strategic stability and respond to the need to protect their respective maritime interests.
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