China and Russia affirm economic cooperation
The Chinese President and Russian President have agreed to cooperate in broad economic and business areas, both countries said at the meeting.
According to Chinese state media, prominent on the list was the increasing role and use of the “local” currency. The Kremlin clarified that the yuan and ruble account for two-thirds of payments in trade negotiations between the two countries.
The agreement covered other areas: increasing bilateral trade, energy and food security cooperation, and improving railway and other cross-border logistics infrastructure.
China is already the main largest trade partner of Russia. Official announcements from both sides outlined few details on the numbers and timelines for the projects, with the plan focusing on implementation until 2030.
The fortification of Russian-Chinese economic collaboration occurs as the US and its allies have enforced sanctions against Russia for its unexpected incursion into Ukraine. Beijing has expressed concern over its incursion and is calling for peace talks.
The Chinese side only stated that they were committed to significantly increasing bilateral trade volume by 2030. However, the planned increase in trade was mentioned several times in the statement made by the Kremlin.
China’s imports from Russia rose nearly 49% in yuan terms last year to 763.76 billion yuan.
Russia states that the two countries have finished 80 significant and requisite bilateral projects in a range of sectors. Overall value is just shy of 165 billion dollars.
The US dollar remains largely the currency of choice for conducting global transactions. However, the usage of the Chinese yuan has grown significantly, with figures indicating a low single-digit percentage. Beijing is pushing hard for the internationalization of its national currency.
China and Russia partner on gas pipeline
Russia and China are extending a gas pipeline that provides a large portion of the natural gas to China. Beijing did not release specific information. However, the Russian side said it increased gas supplies to the main Siberian pipeline by half, or 50%, last year.
The two countries have agreed to cooperate on media jointly. This included joint production of television programs and cooperation in many other ways between the state media of the two countries.
