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Russia—China

Russia—China

KEY CONCLUSIONS

Russian-Chinese relations are important for both countries and the world

“Russian-Chinese partnership is a very important element for both the current situation and the future. Today, the world is in a very complex turbulent state. We are witnessing trade wars and instability, so it is very important that the Russian-Chinese long-term relations are constructive and stable,” Victor Vekselberg, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Skolkovo Foundation; Chairman of the Board of Directors, Renova Group.

“The relations between our countries, in particular, the current visit of the President [of the PRC, – Ed.] to the forum and the visit to your country, are of great importance. The overall volume of our cooperation has already exceeded USD 100 billion,” Zhou Liqun, President, Elus Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs.

“One of our best strategies is to search for the most promising assets abroad and to expand our investment portfolio [including in Russia] <...> We have [Russian] partners too: that is the Russian Direct Investment Fund, with which we cooperate. We work together on over 100 projects; specifically, 30 have been successfully implemented already,” Weimin Ju, Vice Chairman, President, China Investment Corporation.

“81% of Chinese entrepreneurs are optimistic about the Russian market, so clearly we can predict that Chinese investors are positive about their prospects in the Russian market,” Song Hailiang, General Director, China Communications Construction Company.

Cooperation between the countries is developing in many areas

“Russian and Chinese railways are the two largest infrastructure systems. <...> We transport 1.3 billion tons of cargo annually. Last year, the growth of container transit through the Russian railways network increased by a third, with 351,000 twenty-foot equivalent units transported <...> Traffic volume growth reflects the interaction of our economies. This year we plan to increase the volume by over 20%,” Oleg Belozerov, Chief Executive Officer – Chairman of the Executive Board, Russian Railways.

“Our investments [in Russia] have reached a total of several billion dollars,” Wang Wenzhong, Vice President, China Railway Construction Corporation.

“The symbol of our project is a new wide-body aircraft; I firmly believe that this is indeed a project that brings our two countries together <...> for the first time to create such a complex and technologically advanced product, [and] not just by one company established by several countries, but by two countries and two companies, which are not merged into one,” Yuriy Slyusar, President, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).

“Our largest systemically important banks in China have established their Russian representative offices. <...> [The priorities are] wire transfers in national currencies and, of course, the issue of setting the adequate exchange rate for each of the currencies, too. The People’s Bank of China and the Bank of Russia have already signed an agreement on payments in national currencies, and in this situation, after the agreement has been signed, the share of settlements made in national currencies is gradually increasing,” Zhou Xiaochuan, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Boao Forum for Asia.

PROBLEMS

High proportion of raw materials in Russian trade with China

“We need to move away from the trade formula, [when] Chinese goods [are imported] in exchange for our raw materials, towards market access, towards deeper integration schemes,” Grigory Berezkin, Chairman of the Board of Directors, ESN Group.

“China is the world’s economic growth leader, and the leader in manufacturing and industrialization. At the same time, Russia represents a wealth of resources. That is what the geostrategic partnership is built on <...> which is, possibly, no longer enough. We must develop and integrate more, create more solutions related to integration both in technology and in a variety of other areas,” Sergey Gorkov, General Director, Chairman of the Management Board, Rosgeologia.

SOLUTIONS

Ensuring access of Russian products to the Chinese market

“We are now re-equipping one of the terminals for a methanol plant; that means gas production, that means integration with our Chinese partners <...> we see that as borderline integration when our goods are later processed into products in northern China by Chinese chemical companies, and that will ensure a deeper interaction,” Grigory Berezkin, Chairman of the Board of Directors, ESN Group.

“The President has set a task to increase exports of agricultural products by USD 45 billion. Thirty Russian enterprises have gained access to the Chinese market this year to supply poultry meat. This is something very important and has been long-awaited,” Sergey Mikhailov, General Director, Chairman of the Executive Board, Cherkizovo Group.

Developing cooperation as part of the One Belt, One Road Initiative

“The initiative to pair the Eurasian Economic Union and the One Belt, One Road Initiative provides significant, exceptional opportunities for mutual benefit,” Wang Wenzhong, Vice President, China Railway Construction Corporation.

“We are ready to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative and create joint commercial projects to further promote economic cooperation between Russia and China, and we intend to increase the volume of investment into the Russian economy,” Zhu Bixin, Director, President, China Chengtong Holdings Group Ltd.

Providing access to financing through stock exchanges

“In fact, we have the opportunity to raise up to a trillion US dollars [in investments through a stock exchange offering, – Ed.] <...> therefore we welcome Russian companies. <...> We also hope to promote various projects in Russia,” Paul Chan, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

For more information, visit the Roscongress Foundation's Information and Analytical System at roscongress.org/en.

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