China and Russia draw closer with raft of deals covering nuclear power, energy and border co-operation
But analysts warn that amid economic challenges on both sides, implementation remained the true test of progress
China and Russia agreed to step up cooperation on nuclear energy and border development during an official visit by Premier Li Keqiang.
But analysts tempered their enthusiasm for the deals by saying the significance would depend on the speed of implementation.
Li arrived in St Petersburg on Sunday for a four-day official visit and met Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday, and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
“In the context of fragile world economic recovery and slowing global trade growth, China and Russia should further give full play to their complementary advantages, so as to add new vitality into each other’s development, revitalisation, and economic transformation and upgrade,” Li said.
The two sides signed agreements spanning trade, energy, military and technical cooperation, as well as construction of nuclear power plants.
Russia would construct new plants in China, with the first scheduled to begin operation by 2018, according to a statement by the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation. The two sides would develop floating nuclear power facilities and “fast-neutron” reactors, a fourth-generation technology, TASS news agency reported. The two sides expanded cooperation over energy, with Gazprom and Rosneft signing deals with their Chinese counterparts.