Putin tells Xi that Russia is ‘a bit envious’ of China’s economic development

Name: Xi Jinping in Moscow to discuss Chinese peace plan for Ukraine with Russia’s Vladimir Putin
Uploaded: 2023-03-21T07:00:10.000Z
Duration: 2 min 25 s
Description: Xi Jinping in Moscow to discuss Chinese peace plan for Ukraine with Russia’s Vladimir Putin

Russian and Chinese leaders hold informal talks at the Kremlin, kicking off Xi’s three-day state visit to Moscow

Putin says China’s market mechanisms and a ‘fairly confident political course’ have reaped ‘visible results’

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Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Monday. Photo: dpa

Jack Lau

Published: 3:00pm, 21 Mar 2023Updated: 3:54pm, 26 Mar 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Russia envied China’s economic development during an informal meeting on Monday, at the start of Xi’s three-day state visit to Moscow.

“In recent years, China has made a colossal leap forward in its development,” Putin said, according to a transcript from the Kremlin. “It has been the object of sincere interest around the entire world, and we are even a bit envious of you.”

Putin is one of the few world leaders to have stayed in power long enough to witness China’s economic rise up close. He became president in 2000, when former Chinese president Jiang Zemin was in power and before China joined the World Trade Organization. Putin has remained either Russian president or prime minister since.

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Xi Jinping in Moscow to discuss Chinese peace plan for Ukraine with Russia’s Vladimir Putin

Russia is increasingly reliant on China economically. China’s exports to Russia rose 20 per cent in January-February compared to the same period in 2022, reaching US$15 billion, while its exports to other markets fell, according to Chinese customs data. Both countries are also seeking to expand trade between Russia’s Far East and China’s faltering industrial base in the northeast.

“China has established a fairly effective system of economic development and strengthened the country. It’s much more effective compared to many other countries in the world. It’s an obvious fact,” Putin said.

China’s combination of market mechanisms and a “fairly confident political course” reaped “visible results”, Russian state news agency Tass quoted Putin as saying. He also said Beijing would achieve its goals under Xi’s leadership.

In an article published in the Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Monday, Xi said the modernisation of China would bring new opportunities for development to all countries, including Russia.

While Beijing described ties with Moscow as being at a “historic high” and Xi and Putin signed a pledge of friendship without limits just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, analysts have said the countries’ interests – which do not entirely align – still dictate how they handle the relationship.