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Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing yesterday (July 13) to discuss closer cooperation and global challenges. Lavrov had earlier been in North Korea. The talks came ahead of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Foreign Ministers’ Council session in Tianjin.
Both ministers expressed satisfaction with the progress of the two countries’ comprehensive partnership, with the Russian Foreign Ministry commenting “Special attention was paid to the substantive content of the upcoming meeting of the Council of heads of SCO member states, as well as the SCO Plus summit. The importance of strengthening close coordination between the two countries on the international arena, including in the UN and its Security Council, the SCO, BRICS, the G20 and APEC.”
Additionally, Lavrov and Wang discussed relations with the United States, and the prospects for resolving the Ukraine conflict in accordance to the UN Charter, the statement said. The two ministers also addressed the tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the Israel-Iran conflict.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a Eurasian security, humanitarian and trade group. It was originally established in 2001 to deal with the issue of American involvement in Afghanistan; but has now expanded its remit to cover a far wider geopolitical remit. Full members include Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan and Mongolia are observers, while Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, Egypt, Kuwait, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Nepal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and the UAE are dialogue partners.
They additionally discussed the implementation of agreements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Moscow in May.
Wang said that the current bilateral focus is to jointly prepare for future high-level meetings, deepen strategic cooperation, promote development of both countries and jointly respond to the challenges brought about by a turbulent and changing world.
China’s trade with Russia has shown significant growth, with bilateral trade turnover increasing from US$146.88 billion in 2021 to US$244.8 billion in 2024.
Of last year’s trade, Russia exported US$129.32 billion to China and imported US$115.49 billion. This is partly attributed to increased Russian exports of fossil fuels and other natural resources, fueled by higher energy prices and Russia’s reduced access to Western markets, while China mainly exports manufactured goods. Trade volume growth has been expected to slow during 2025 and will probably remain at about 2024 levels. However, bilateral trade has been diversifying with Russia increasingly making inroads beyond energy supplies to servicing the Chinese consumer market.
For more Russia-China trade intelligence, please click here.
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