Русский
Russia and China have signed nearly three dozen agreements following negotiations between presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in Moscow. The two leaders talked for more than seven hours, with agreed documents ranging from joint statements on strengthening their comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between the two nations, to declarations in support of the global stability and international law, and agreements covering agricultural export regulations and bilateral cooperation in space.
Global Issues
In terms of global influence, Xi and Putin noted “the irreversibility of forming a more just and sustainable multipolar world order”. Moscow and Beijing also reaffirmed their commitment to preserve the United Nations central coordinating role in harmonizing the interests of member states and developing collective responses to contemporary challenges, stating that “Russia and China strongly condemn any attempts of external diktat aimed at undermining the processes of consolidation and equal cooperation in Eurasia.” They “Condemned actions in the West to bypass the UN Security Council, violating the UN Charter and international law, obstructing justice, as well as measures (sanctions and tariffs: ed) contrary to the rules of the World Trade Organization.”
Moscow and Beijing agreed to “strengthen close coordination within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a promising direction for the development of Russian-Chinese relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation in the new era.”
They added that Russia and China are ready, together with other BRICS members, to promote strategic cooperation within the framework of the association in all three areas: politics and security, economy and finance, and cultural and humanitarian contacts.
Bilateral Agreements
In bilateral agreements, Moscow and Beijing agreed to promote the stable development of bilateral trade, deepen investment ties, continue to strengthen the comprehensive energy partnership, enhance interbank ties, and expand settlements in national currencies. They agreed to strengthen cooperation in education, deepen media policy dialogue and cooperation in such areas as joint production and exchange of audiovisual content, support cooperation in the field of archival services, progressively develop cooperation in the film industry, promote the expansion of joint film production, and strengthen youth cooperation.
Bilateral Development
China is Russia’s biggest partner, Putin said, adding that the trade volume between the two nations hit another record last year, reaching US$245 billion. Investment cooperation between the two nations is actively growing, according to the Russian leader. Around 90 priority joint projects, worth approximately US$200 billion, are either underway or in preparation. These initiatives span key sectors including industrial manufacturing, transportation, logistics, agriculture, and mineral extraction.
Putin said that “The joint statement that Mr. Xi Jinping and I adopted sets ambitious goals. One of the goals is to ensure quantitative progress in Russia-China trade and investment cooperation by 2030, increase the scale and improve the structure of economic ties by raising the share of high-tech goods, developing innovative methods of digital trade, providing each other with basic materials, mineral resources and agricultural products.”
Energy
“The Power of Siberia 1 gas pipeline has now reached its full design capacity, with 31 billion cubic metres of natural gas delivered to our Chinese partners. Gazprom consistently meets the requests of its Chinese counterparts, regularly supplying volumes beyond those stipulated in the contractual obligations. (See here for updates on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline).
The launch of the Far Eastern Gas Pipeline scheduled for 2027 will increase Russian gas exports by another 10 billion cubic metres.
The volume of LNG that Russia supplies to China is also increasing, and cooperation in peaceful nuclear energy is developing successfully. Rosatom is building Russian-designed power units at the Tianwan NPP and the Xudapu NPP. Their commissioning will make a significant contribution to the energy supply of the Chinese economy, helping supply Chinese enterprises and households with inexpensive and clean energy, thus improving the environmental situation in large Chinese cities.”
Technology
“In late March, the Nica Accelerator Complex, built with the active assistance with our Chinese partners, was launched in Dubna, Moscow Region. This collider allows for unique physics experiments that help study the nature and properties of elementary particles.”
Manufacturing & Supply Chains
“When discussing current issues of industrial cooperation, special emphasis was put on creating additional value chains and introducing advanced technologies and innovations.
Large Chinese car producers, manufacturers of industrial equipment, microelectronics, and household appliances are expanding their presence in the Russian market; large-scale joint projects are being implemented in non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical and cellulose industries, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, space development, and many other knowledge-intensive areas.
Russia and China prioritise the development of international transport corridors spanning the entire Eurasian continent. Our country is actively upgrading key railway routes — the Trans-Siberian and the Baikal-Amur mainlines — along with the supporting infrastructure.
Significant progress has been made in the development and commercial operation of the Northern Sea Route. As a result, passenger and freight flows between Russia and China continue to grow steadily, with increased throughput at border crossings, several of which now operate 24 hours. New logistics hubs are also being established.”
Logistics Hubs
Please see Russia-China logistics hub developments here, here, here, here here here and here.
Tourism
“I would also like to highlight that 2024–2025 have been declared the Cross-Years of Russian and Chinese Culture. To date, around 150 events, including theatre tours, museum exhibitions, and film festivals, have taken place in 30 Russian and 50 Chinese cities. Last winter, Moscow marked the Lunar New Year on a grand scale, an occasion in which hundreds of thousands of Muscovites took part. I am certain that many people in Moscow are now recalling those festive moments with fondness. We have many New Year celebrations: the calendar New Year, the Old-style New Year, and now we are delighted to celebrate the Lunar New Year as well.
The steady growth of mutual tourism is further supported by the visa-free regime for organised tour groups. In 2024, 1.6 million Russian citizens visited the People’s Republic of China, while approximately 1.2 million Chinese nationals travelled to the Russian Federation.”
Education
“There are 21,000 Russian students in China, and 51,000 Chinese students in our country. More than 160 bilateral educational programmes for undergraduate and postgraduate students are available in Russian and Chinese. There are 27 joint education institutions, including the flagship Joint Russian-Chinese University created by Lomonosov Moscow State University jointly with the Beijing Institute of Technology. There are 12 inter-university associations that unite about 600 education institutions in the two countries. Today, the President of China proposed an initiative to hold bilateral years of education. We support this timely and useful idea.”
Overview
“When addressing crucial international and regional issues, we reaffirmed that Russia and China maintain identical or highly aligned positions. The two countries pursue independent foreign policies and are interested in creating a more just and democratic multipolar world order.
As you know, the United Nations marks the 80th anniversary this year. Russia and China both believe that the UN and its Security Council ought to continue playing the central role in global affairs, while all the issues and problems on the global and regional agendas must be addressed in compliance with the UN Charter and international law, with due account for the interests of all international community members with respect for the cultural and civilisational diversity.
Our countries are actively cooperating within BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, where China is now presiding. Russia supports the priorities of China’s SCO chairmanship, and we are happy to be taking part in the SCO summit in Tianjin this September.
Of course, we will continue to coordinate our positions in other multilateral formats, such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the G20, the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. We will persist with our efforts to align the integration processes within the EAEU and China’s Belt and Road Initiative with the prospect of forming a Greater Eurasian partnership.”
Further Reading
Putin Lays Out Russian Development Strategy At “Future Technologies” Forum: Analysis
