The China Russia Prime Minister Meeting Promotes Resilient and Pragmatic Cooperation

From the 19th to the 20th, Mishusky will conduct a two-day visit to China. According to the Russian "Business Online" news website, this is his second visit to China this year, reflecting the Russian government's high attention to developing bilateral relations and further promoting cooperation in various fields. The importance of cooperation with China in Russian diplomacy is increasingly prominent.
During the 28th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian Prime Ministers, Li Qiang expressed that China is willing to take the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries next year as an opportunity to implement the important consensus of the two heads of state, continuously inherit and carry forward the friendship between China and Russia for generations, promote new and greater development of China Russia relations, continuously improve the well-being of the two peoples, and inject more stability and positive energy into the world. Mishusky stated that Russia China relations are at the highest level in history and maintain a rapid development momentum, becoming the ballast and stabilizer of international relations. After the meeting, the two prime ministers signed the Joint Communiqu é of the 28th Regular Meeting of Chinese and Russian Prime Ministers, and jointly witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation documents.

On the 19th, the Moscow Communist Youth League reported that Mishusky's visit to China reflects the trend of increasing political mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and China. Both sides have achieved rich and enormous potential in cooperation in fields such as economy and trade, energy, agricultural products, and high technology. According to the Russian weekly newspaper "Evidence and Facts", in the view of Russian historian Dr. Koshkin, the more meetings between the Russian and Chinese prime ministers, the better, because in such meetings, the two sides can directly agree on matters related to the implementation of certain projects.

"Since 2022, Russia has adjusted its trade and investment structure, and its relationship with China has become closer, especially with the formation of new interactions between manufacturing and China's industrial chain, which has strengthened the interdependence of the two countries' economies." Cui Heng, a lecturer at the China Shanghai Cooperation Organization International Judicial Exchange Training Base at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, told Global Times on the 19th that the endogenous driving force of China Russia relations has significantly increased as a result.
On the 19th, Wang Xiaoquan, a researcher at the Russian East European and Central Asian Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Global Times that an important background of the Russian Prime Minister's visit to China this year is the breakthrough achievements in the economic and trade relations between the two countries. Both sides will explore how to further strengthen cooperation in all fields under this new situation, and continue to leverage the characteristics of government led, market mechanism, and large enterprise driven economic and trade relations between China and Russia. He believes that this China Russia leadership meeting is expected to further promote the landing of more joint projects between the two countries, and will focus on solving some "bottleneck problems" in the economic and trade field, including improving infrastructure connectivity, food transportation capacity, and other issues.
According to TASS, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Cherneshenko stated on the 18th that according to Russian statistics, the trade volume between Russia and China exceeded $2010 billion in the first 11 months of this year, ahead of the goal of increasing the bilateral trade volume to $200 billion by 2024. He said that data released by the General Administration of Customs of China showed that the trade volume between the two countries had exceeded 218 billion US dollars in the first 11 months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 26.7%. It is entirely possible to achieve a bilateral trade volume of 300 billion US dollars by 2030, while maintaining the current growth rate of bilateral trade.
The Russian government news agency released a statement stating that although the external economic situation remains severe, Russia China cooperation is developing steadily in all aspects. The settlement of local currency in bilateral trade between Russia and China exceeds 90%. Agricultural products rank second in Russia's exports to China, only behind energy products. Cherneshenko also stated on the 18th that it is expected that the flow of tourists between the two countries will exceed 1 million by the end of this year. In 2023, the number of Chinese tourists to Russia ranked first among all countries.
Some Westerners still view China Russia relations with a narrow and biased perspective. According to the Associated Press on the 19th, US Indo Pacific Command Commander Aquilino stated that he is "very concerned" about the increasing joint military operations between China and Russia in the Indo Pacific region. On the 19th, the Russian news website "absatz" quoted Professor Koshkin from the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences as saying that currently, Western countries such as the United States are causing various interferences and making noise in Russia China relations, but this will not affect the momentum of Russia China's joint development. The two countries will continue to cooperate to address various challenges. The satellite news agency said that Moscow and Beijing are friends and do not oppose anyone, only for their respective interests.
Wang Xiaoquan's analysis suggests that the "long arm jurisdiction" sanctions imposed by the United States and the hegemony of the US dollar will bring certain pressure to Chinese enterprises that have economic and trade relations with Russia. However, China Russia cooperation is gradually adapting to external pressures and finding ways to cope. Both China and Russia have a strong willingness and determination to continue the momentum of stable cooperation.
[Global Times Russian correspondent Xiao Xinxin Global Times reporter Baiyun Yi Wang Qi Global Times special correspondent Liu Yupeng]