Mikhail Mishustin arrived on a working visit to Beijing

The 28th regular meeting of the heads of government of Russia and China took place in Beijing on Tuesday, December 19, in person. Among the topics for discussion is the further expansion of trade and economic cooperation, in particular, through the diversification of mutual trade turnover – based on the results of 11 months, it reached, according to various estimates, $201–218 billion. Opportunities for this are created, among other things, by the planned expansion of the range of agricultural products exported To China. At the same time, Beijing and Moscow are also testing the prospects for expanding investment cooperation: in addition to the already developed cooperation in gas chemistry, mining, and the automotive industry, ideas are being expressed about interaction in the areas of “end-to-end” and green technologies.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a two-day visit to participate in the 28th meeting of the heads of government of Russia and China. Today, the head of the Russian Cabinet will also meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. As Mikhail Mishustin emphasized, regular face-to-face meetings of heads of government have been resumed after a break – we recall that the last time the prime ministers of the Russian Federation and China communicated within the framework of this mechanism was a year ago in the format of a video conference, but the practice of official visits, previously paused due to Covid, began to be restored in the spring (see “Kommersant” dated May 24). Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Qiang gave this political weight. According to him, “in the context of tectonic changes in the modern world,” relations between Beijing and Moscow are “able to withstand the tests of international turbulence” due to the fact that “a model of a new type of relationship between world powers, characterized by mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and mutual benefit,” is being built.”

On the eve of the Prime Minister’s arrival, the Russian delegation was already actively working in Beijing: Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Deputy Prime Minister of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China He Lifeng held a meeting of the commission preparing the meeting, discussing the key issues of the upcoming agenda at that time, and the head of the Ministry of Finance Anton Siluanov and the Minister of Finance Lan Foan received participation in the Chinese-Russian financial dialogue. Taking into account the statements made on Monday, the tone of the prime minister’s meeting was set very positive, in particular, an increase in trade turnover was noted: according to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, up to $218 billion in January-November (an increase of 26.7% in annual terms); According to estimates of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation, the turnover amounted to $201 billion (with a forecast of up to 220 billion by the end of the year).

Despite the difference in data, the stated goal of doubling trade turnover by 2024 compared to the 2018 figure of $100 billion has been achieved.

Chinese imports grew the most during this period – by 50.2%, to $100.3 billion, Russian supplies to China increased by 11.8%, to $117.7 billion. Note that the bulk of goods exported to the Russian Federation in value terms are energy resources. Also, one of the traditional items of Russian export to China is agricultural products, while the PRC supplies machinery, equipment and transport to the Russian Federation, which, against the backdrop of sanctions, caused such an increase, for example, as Chinese Ambassador to the Russian Federation Zhang Hanhui noted in an interview with RIA Novosti, China has become the main supplier of cars to Russia.

At the meeting of heads of government, Li Qiang noted that the volume of mutual trade turnover “set a new record” – and in the future, he believes, the figure will increase. Mikhail Mishustin emphasized that over 90% of mutual settlements are carried out in national currencies. Now, according to the Russian Prime Minister, it is necessary to “ensure a new quality of mutual trade turnover through diversification of its structure.” Let us note that the day before Anton Siluanov announced the actual completion of the construction of the payment infrastructure between the Russian Federation and China in national currencies. Previously, apparently, payment problems did not allow us to quickly expand the range of mutual trade; after the work carried out in 2022–2023, this became possible. So far, an expansion of supplies of Russian agricultural products to China has been announced: supplies of Russian pork will begin in 2024, approval for the export of winter wheat and barley from the Russian Federation (now the PRC buys only spring crops), rye flour, semolina, animal feed and dairy products is being completed.

Further, as the head of the Ministry of Economy Maxim Reshetnikov said on Tuesday, it is planned to increase the volume of trade turnover to $300 billion by 2030.

Among other priorities for cooperation between Beijing and Moscow, as follows from the results of the meeting, is the expansion of investment cooperation. According to Mikhail Mishustin, today “new opportunities are opening up for cooperation, and we welcome the activity of Chinese business in the Russian market.” Now, according to the Ministry of Economy, more than 80 major projects worth a total of $200 billion are being implemented within the framework of the intergovernmental Russian-Chinese commission on investment cooperation – in gas chemistry, mining, agro-industrial complex, automotive industry, as well as infrastructure projects. It is planned to expand cooperation in this direction in 2024, in particular, through shipbuilding, end-to-end technologies and new energy sources.

Evgenia Kryuchkova, Beijing