The View | China-Russia relations: economic cooperation provides foundation for thriving strategic partnership

President Xi Jinping, who was reappointed for a third term last month, paid his first overseas visit in this capacity to Moscow, signalling a new era of cooperation between China and Russia. A major topic of discussion between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin was economic cooperation.

Political and strategic security considerations are vital, but without well-established cooperation in the economic sphere, the bilateral strategic partnership can sometimes sag. It is business cooperation between the two countries that creates the foundation for a solid and flexible strategic partnership.

Trade turnover between China and Russia rose by about 30 per cent last year to US$190 billion and could surpass the targeted level of US$200 billion as soon as this year. Trade is strongly driven by energy cooperation. Russia is a strategic supplier of oil, liquefied and pipeline natural gas, coal and electricity to China. Under a joint programme, Russian engineers are also helping to build nuclear power plants in China.

During their meeting, Xi and Putin also discussed a new gas pipeline project, the Power of Siberia 2, which will pass through Mongolia. Putin said he and Xi had agreed on “most of the deal’s parameters”. The new pipeline link is expected to ensure reliable supplies of an additional 50 billion cubic metres of gas per year from Russia.

Sino-Russian cooperation is not limited to energy. The two countries’ economies structurally complement each other. Russia trades basic commodities, while China produces various goods ranging from automobiles to industrial equipment.