West's ploys meet united stance by China, Russia as exemplified by leaders' rapport
Senior Chinese and Russian officials attend an event in July marking the 20th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. (EVGENY SINITSYN / XINHUA)
"Dear President Xi Jinping, my dear friend, nice to see you. I send you my regards!" With a sincere smile and a warm wave, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered these words as he and President Xi began their second virtual meeting of 2021 just before the year ran to a close.
Xi, calling Putin "my old friend" in his opening remarks, noted that China and Russia have become major champions of multilateralism and international fairness and justice.
It’s the strongest, closest and best relationship that the two countries have had since at least the mid-1950s — and possibly ever.
Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies
The meeting was the 37th to take place between the two leaders since 2013, marking the culmination of intensive diplomatic interactions in 2021.
In May, the two leaders attended, via video, a launch ceremony for projects relating to cooperation in nuclear energy. The following month, a virtual summit was held to extend a key treaty on good neighborliness and friendly cooperation. Then, in August, the presidents followed up these initiatives with a phone discussion.
Russian newspaper Kommersant said the frequent discussions between Xi and Putin serve to further promote bilateral cooperation in the face of the West's containment policy against China and Russia. Each side views the other as a pillar of support in counteracting the external pressures brought against them.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, another newspaper in Russia, said the talks have also helped generate contracts for the production of more than 150 million doses of the Russian-developed COVID-19 vaccines Sputnik V and Sputnik Light with six Chinese companies. The arrangements make China the main producer of the Russian vaccines, the newspaper reported.
Russian diplomats visit the Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on July 5. Some exhibition halls display photos relating to the development of China-Russia relations. (ZHANG YUWEI / XINHUA)
The newspaper said the year-end meeting between Xi and Putin was held when the two countries were in particular need of each other's support amid rising international tensions. The leaders discussed the aggressive rhetoric of the United States and the NATO alliance that it leads during the meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. The West has been insinuating that Moscow is setting the stage to invade Ukraine, while the Kremlin is pressing NATO for a guarantee on Russia's security.
The Russian government has, on many occasions, criticized the announcement from the US and some other Western countries of not sending a delegation of government officials to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Putin has accepted Xi's invitation to attend the Games, which start early next month. The Russian leader's visit will continue the tradition of the two nations celebrating major events together.
During their December meeting, Xi said he has been looking forward to a face-to-face meeting with Putin, scheduled to take place during the opening of the Games. Putin's attendance demonstrates Russia's active show of support for China's hosting of the global sporting event, the Chinese president said.
Andrey Ostrovsky, deputy director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said Moscow and Beijing should further strengthen their trade and economic relations and bolster cooperation on military and national security matters.
In October, Chinese and Russian warships conducted joint naval drills in the western Pacific Ocean for the first time. Beijing and Moscow said the exercises were aimed at maintaining peace and stability in the volatile region.
A visitor samples beer from Russia on Nov 10 at a booth promoting Russian products at the 4th China International Import Expo in Shanghai. (YIN LIQIN / CHINA NEWS SERVICE)
'Best relationship ever'
An agreement signed by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in November capped a year that has seen unprecedented growth in military cooperation, including large drills in China's northwest in August, when Russian troops became the first foreign forces to join a regular Chinese drill. The year also witnessed announcements for collaboration on the design of aircraft, including helicopters, and some types of high-tech weaponry.
"It's the strongest, closest and best relationship that the two countries have had since at least the mid-1950s－and possibly ever," said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank on global security headquartered in London.
Despite the warmth in the bilateral relationship, Ostrovsky said: "Russia and China, however, have said that they have no intention to create a military bloc. Yet the good neighbor agreement on friendship and cooperation, originally signed in 2001, has been extended for five years. I think that it has to be made clear to the US that if they continue to step up the pressure, then an agreement on military cooperation will be signed."
Rather than enter into a military alliance, Russia and China prefer to stand back-to-back and shoulder-to-shoulder in the face of external pressures, he said.
Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Political and Military Research Center at the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that from the basis of a nonbinding strategic partnership, Russia and China are moving to a new stage of cooperation.
On foreign policy, Beijing and Moscow share similar approaches on Iran, Syria and Venezuela, and recently revived a push to lift sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, observers say.
For China, Russia is the second-largest source of oil imports. China is Russia's top trading partner and a key source of investment in its energy projects, including the Yamal liquefied natural gas plant in the Arctic Circle and the Power of Siberia pipeline－at $55 billion, the biggest gas project in Russia.
In the first 11 months of 2021, Sino-Russian trade reached a historic high of 843.41 billion yuan ($132.5 billion), a 24 percent year-on-year jump, according to China's General Administration of Customs.
Vasily Kashin, the head of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, said the two countries significantly increased cooperation across the political, military and economic spheres in 2021.
"At the same time, tensions were growing both in Eastern Europe and in Eastern Asia. And each side separately was conducting its complicated dialogue with the US in recent months," he said.
Russian-Chinese relations are built on the finest nuances and reflect the situation prevailing in each country, said Alexey Maslov, director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies.
Chinese customs officers keep watch after a cargo ship laden with equipment arrives in the Huludao Port, Liaoning province, on Nov 29. The equipment, bound for the Xudapu nuclear power plant, was sent from St. Petersburg in Russia on a three-month journey. (YANG QING / XINHUA)
Reliable partner
Noting that China is Russia's most important trade partner, he said that Russia is an absolutely reliable partner for China.
Ostrovsky said the two countries will be able to resist outside pressure if they further integrate their economic and trade relations.
"The volume of Russian-Chinese trade amounted to $107.5 billion (in 2021)," said Ostrovsky. About $8 billion of Chinese investments flow into Russia each year, but flows in the opposite direction are comparatively small, said Ostrovsky, suggesting there's room for improvement. When the gas supplies from Yamal and Sakhalin begin reaching China, that should push up bilateral trade to about $200 billion a year, he said.
In their year-end meeting, the two leaders hailed their "model" China-Russia relations, and their desire to work toward even stronger relations this year.
Putin said the relations are at an unprecedented level, the best ever. The two nations, with a high level of strategic mutual trust, have set an example of how win-win cooperation can be pursued based on noninterference in domestic affairs and respect for each other's interests. This foundation has made the relationship a model for international relations in the 21st century.
It's far from the first time that the Russian leader, along with officials and analysts, has accorded such high praise for the bilateral relationship, nor for Putin to express Russia's full support for China on issues important to Beijing.
In February, Peskov hailed China's victory in eradicating absolute poverty. "China is a big country with a large population. Although the coronavirus has brought difficulties to the country's economic and social development, China managed to maintain a forward trend successfully," the Kremlin spokesman said.
In May, Putin said during a phone conversation with Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, that Russia is ready to work with China to defend multilateralism and contribute to preserving global strategic stability.
In July, Alexander Semyonov, the head of the Yekaterinburg branch of the State Research Center of the Virology and Biotechnology Vector Institute, said the US has continued to spread the lie that the coronavirus came from a Chinese laboratory.
In November, Putin said the bilateral relationship had reached its "historical maximum" and that it is characterized by an all-embracing strategic partnership. "Together with our Chinese friends, we will continue to respond to such attempts by expanding our political, economic and other cooperation, and coordinating steps in the international arena," he said.
Last year marked the 20th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. In their first meeting via video in 2021, the two countries issued a joint statement that provided for the treaty to be extended.
Under the guiding hands of the two presidents, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era has established itself as an important diplomatic and strategic asset shared by both sides. It has also brought both countries closer together as they wrestle with all sorts of external challenges.
Despite the pandemic, all-around practical cooperation between China and Russia has continued to flourish. Major projects have played a key role in energizing the overall cooperation maintained by the two countries. In May, construction began on the No 7 and No 8 units of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, and the No 3 and No 4 units of the Xudapu nuclear power plant in Huludao, Liaoning province. It is the biggest China-Russia joint project in the field of nuclear energy to date.
Passengers make their way through the Michurinsky Prospekt station in Moscow on Dec 7. A section of the Moscow Metro was built by China Railway Construction Corporation. (EVGENY SINITSYN / XINHUA)
Trade network
Both countries also have pledged to speed up their efforts to set up an independent trade network.
According to Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, the neighbors have paid special attention to speeding up the formation of an independent financial infrastructure for servicing trading operations between Russia and China. He added that "third countries" would not be able to interfere with this network.
The two countries also welcomed an increase in the number of deals settled in the yuan and the rouble as well as efforts to improve access to stock markets for investors from both countries, Ushakov said.
The yuan accounted for more than 17 percent of bilateral trade settlements between the two countries and more than 12 percent of Russia's international reserves in 2020, according to Russia's central bank.
Ekaterina Kosareva, the managing partner at the WMT Consult analytical agency, said the yuan is among the top five global currencies, and that Russia's trade with China is growing. Beijing is becoming more and more interested in using the national currency for transactions abroad.
Still, much work needs to be done before the yuan can reach the levels of the US dollar and the euro in terms of international payments, she said.
