In 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that economic development of the Far East was a “national priority of the entire 21st century”. His “pivot to the east” policy aims to develop Russia’s vast, resource-rich eastern flank, which shares a 4,000km (2,500-mile) border with China, while tapping the economic potential of Asia. Beijing and Moscow see a mutually beneficial partnership in the area and China’s State Council has described the Far East as a driver of regional growth, citing a direct link between the northeastern province of Heilongjiang and Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Amur region. It is also a part of the Polar Silk Road and there are expectations that port development along the Arctic coastline will unleash the economic potential of Northeast Asia. With Russia under Western sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine, observers are paying close attention to what economic support China is willing to give its strategic partner. Though long in planning, development of the Far East is one way in which the world’s No 2 economy can help offset the economic isolation Russia increasingly finds itself in. What are the origins of China-Russia collaboration in the Far East? Before he returned to the Russian presidency in 2012, Putin declared that the Far East must catch the “Chinese wind” in the sails of its economy. Since then he has sought China’s help to boost trade and investment in the region. The shared border between the two countries rich with natural resources such as natural gas, gold, coal, diamond, timber and seafood. With the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway at the end of the 19th century, it also serves as a transiting hub between Asia and Europe. Incorporating Putin’s national direction, more than a dozen “priority development areas” in the Far East have been established, which offer foreign investors lower taxes and utility costs when they build production facilities in the area. In 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Far Eastern port of Vladivostok. Russia and China signed a six-year cooperation road map with a list of recommended investment projects in areas such as agriculture, tourism, and transport infrastructure. During a meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the fourth Eastern Economic Forum, Xi said both countries should strengthen the synergy of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union. He said cooperation in fields such as energy, agriculture, scientific and technological innovation and finance should be expanded, while joint research and development of cutting-edge science and technology should be enhanced. Xi also said that China and Russia steadfastly support each other in pursuing development paths that suit respective national conditions. What are some of the major joint projects in the Far East? A Russia-China investment fund was formed in 2012 to provide up to US$724 million in finances for development of northeastern China and the Far East, according to Chinese state-owned broadcaster CGTN. In 2019, Russia and China completed construction of a 1,080 metre (3,500-foot) bridge over the Amur River that would connect the cities of Blagoveshchensk and Heihe. In December of that year, Russia launched the US$55 billion Power of Siberia natural gas pipeline to China. The project represents the first gas pipeline between the two countries and is part of a US$400 billion contract signed in 2014 to provide China with Russian gas for 30 years. In 2021, the countries finished building another major project on the Amur River: a 2,200 metre rail bridge between Nizhneleninskoye and Tongjiang. China, Russia enhance ‘growing energy partnership’ with gas deal Chinese state-owned food processing company COFCO and STO Express have also been tapped to develop agriculture and e-commerce businesses in the region, respectively. Dmitry Shlapentokh, an associate professor at Indiana University South Bend, said most investments between China and Russia in the Far East revolve around the extraction of raw materials like timber, gas and oil, and private investment was less common. More recently, Russia has encouraged Chinese investors to put their money into hi-tech development rather than raw materials extraction, said Gaye Christoffersen, former professor at Nanjing University’s Hopkins-Nanjing Centre. How important is the Far East to the economies of Russia and China? China is the Far East’s largest trading partner, surpassing South Korea and Japan in recent years. Trade turnover between the region and China was US$13.8 billion last year, up 28.1 per cent compared to 2020, according to the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic. As of last year, Chinese investors are backing 58 projects with a total of US$2.4 billion in priority development territories, while a large number of Chinese traders operate in the free port of Vladivostok. The ministry had previously stated that China accounted for 73 per cent of all foreign investment in the Far East According to Christoffersen, the Far East accounts for about 10 per cent of total trade and economic turnover between Russia and China. Why is China interested in investing in Russia’s Far East? Developing the Far East could help economic growth in China’s struggling northeastern provinces, known as the “rust belt”. They are looking for bilateral cooperation with secure and easy access to seaports that will revive their economies. More broadly, the regional development will help the Polar Silk Road take shape, which aims to open a new trade route between China and Nordic countries. In 2018, Alexander Galushka, Russia’s former minister for the development of the Far East said: “The Russian Far East is adjacent to China’s northeastern provinces, but has limited land transportation infrastructure. More overland cross-border infrastructure is required to make full use of the geographic advantages in commerce and trade between the two areas.” While there are clear economic benefits in developing the region, China’s rationale goes beyond the economy. Shlapentokh said China’s engagement with the Far East was mainly due to the desire to secure its northern border and procure a supply of cheap gas and raw materials. “It’s about infrastructural development under the silk road project,” said Shlapentokh. “It’s more on geopolitical concerns. The long-term strategic thinking of China is to increase its global dominance with profits.” He added that China is also keen on finding ways to expand the use of yuan to replace the US dollar.