China and Russia to strengthen ties in face of US and UK tensions
China and Russia have pledged to work more closely together in the face of rising tensions with the US and Britain.
China and Russia have pledged to work more closely together in the face of rising tensions with the US and Britain.
With China under pressure from Donald Trump’s trade war, and Russia being accused of interfering in the 2016 US presidential elections and of orchestrating the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin set out plans in Vladivostok for closer ties between the two countries.
Mr Xi told the Russian leader that there was a “uniqueness and distinction” in the relationship between the countries, according to a report by China’s state television, CCTV.
“Both nations have to oppose unilateralism and trade protectionism, and build a new type of international relations and shared human destiny,” he said.
Mr Putin said the relationship between China and Russia was based on trust in areas from politics to defence.
He said he knew that Mr Xi personally paid “great attention to the development of Russia-Chinese relations”.
The two agreed to take more steps to work together, including China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union, and expand co-operation in areas including energy, agriculture, scientific and technological innovation, and finance.
Mr Putin said Russia welcomed more investment by Chinese companies and was willing to offer “favourable conditions” to encourage more local government exchanges between the two countries.
The meeting, during Mr Xi’s first visit to the Eastern Economic Forum, comes as China has been participating in joint military exercises with Russia in eastern Siberia.
The exercises have seen more than 3000 Chinese troops join more than 300,000 troops from Russia, a move clearly designed to show the US and Europe the increasing closeness of the two powers.
Relations between Russia and China, which have gone through various political shifts, have been improving for some time.
The two sides settled their last border dispute more than 10 years ago and have continued to boost economic ties.
There is potential for further co-operation between the two powers in developing the Arctic region. Russia also has the potential to increase sales of LNG to China, given the thawing of the sea route along northern Russia.
China’s ambassador to Russia, Li Hiu, said this week that relations between the two countries were “at their best in history”.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma also attended the forum in Vladivostok to announce a new online shopping and gaming venture between his company and Russian investors.
The former governor of the People’s Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, told CNBC this week that the US imposition of tariffs on goods from China would lead to a “substantial improvement” in relations between Russia and China.
He said China would like to have a “normal relationship” with the US, but the tariffs imposed by the US had made China “look at other markets and diversify our trade and business relationships”.
China’s Global Times newspaper said “global strategic pressuring” from the US was providing the incentive for closer ties between Beijing and Moscow.
It said China and Russia could “create a vital influence” when the two countries worked together with a unified stance on global issues.
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