Russia and China Are Looking To Boost Cooperation: APEC Leaders Summit

Russia and China are looking to boost cooperation in major investment projects. The most promising areas are mining, agriculture, infrastructure construction and the chemical industry. The two countries will be discussing the fields of potential tighter cooperation during the forthcoming week.

Russian and Chinese leaders will hold bilateral talks as the APEC Summit will be held in Beijing between the 7-11th November. Mr Xi and Putin will meet up already the 5th time this year and 9th since Mr Xi took over the office of China’s President in March 2013.

The trade volume between Russia and China surged last year, hitting almost the target of $100bn set for 2015, according to Putin.

The two countries signed over 40 agreements during the 19th China-Russia Prime Ministers’ meeting in Russia’s capital last month according to the BRICS Post. Also earlier this year China and Russia signed a landmark $400 billion gas deal in Shanghai.

Russia also plans to sign a new 30-year gas supply contract with China via the western route and also welcomed Chinese investors joining the strategic Vankor oil project in Siberia.

“Vankor is one of the biggest production operations today and very promising. Overall, we take a cautious approach to letting in our foreign partners, but we of course set no restrictions for our Chinese friends,” said Putin.

China’s support to Russia comes at the back of the sanctions against Russia announced by the West over the Russian Crimea annexation and invasion on Ukraine.

Russia’s trade turnover with China is almost three times as big as that with the U.S.

The Russian and Chinese central banks have signed a massive currency swap deal worth $24.4 billion for three years, which will allow them to increase trade in domestic currencies as the plan is to cut the dependence on the U.S. dollar.

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Source: The BRICS Post, Reuters, Bloomberg