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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming state visit to China will be his first state visit outside the Commonwealth of Independent States since he started his third term as president in May. During the visit scheduled for June 5-7, China and Russia will discuss measures to deepen their all-round strategic cooperative partnership in political, economic and security cooperation.
Chinese and Russian observers said China and Russia have formed a good tradition of high-level communication, and the two sides need to make more efforts on strengthening economic cooperation and work together to deal with security challenges in their region and the world.
Mutual trust
According to the schedule, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Putin will sign a joint statement of deepening all-around strategic cooperative partnership between China and Russia. The statement will call for the establishment of a new security concept based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation. Chinese and Russian experts pointed out that Putin’s visit will set the active tone of developing bilateral relations in next 10 years.
Shi Ze, Director of the Center for Eurasian Security and Development at the China Institute of International Studies, stressed that Putin’s visit to China will be a sign that the Sino-Russian relationship has reached a new level. Shi pointed out that in 2010, China and Russia upgraded their relationship to an allround strategic cooperative partnership. “Such a partnership not only poses new demand but also inputs new drive to the bilateral relationship.”
He said Putin’s last visit to China was in September 2010, six months ahead of Russia’s presidential election. China was the only country that Putin visited before the election, he added.
Alexander Lukin, Director of the Center for East Asian and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Studies at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, agreed that Putin’s Chinese trip will mark good interaction between the two neighbors.“Now we have developed a good tradition on our state leader level,” he said, mentioning that Russia was also the first state that Hu chose to visit after assuming the Chinese presidency in 2003.
Some said it is not necessary to exaggerate the significance of Putin’s visit to China. Guan Guihai, a professor and expert in Russian studies at Peking University, said since Putin is scheduled to attend the coming SCO Summit on June 6-7 in Beijing, his visit to China is a convenient arrangement.
In May, Putin sent Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to participate in the Group of Eight Summit held in the United States, triggering vast comments throughout the world. Guan said in this context overemphasizing how Putin values the relationship with China will easily create uncomfortable competition among the three major powers.
Currently, both sides are confident about their relationship. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said on May 29 that Hu and Putin agreed that they will continue to treat developing Sino-Russian relations as a diplomatic priority. He also said China and Russia have been firmly supporting each other on issues concerning their respective core interests, while the two sides’ political mutual trust is strengthening.
Russian Ambassador to China Sergey Razov said there are no thorny problems in the Sino-Russian relationship, and the two countries share wide common interests.
Energy cooperation
China and Russia are going to conduct a new round of negotiations on Russia transporting its natural gas through pipelines to China, which is an important part of the two countries’ trade and economic ties.
According to the agreement the two sides signed in October 2009, Russia is going to transfer 70 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China via two pipelines every year for 30 years beginning in 2014. But the two sides have yet to agree on the price. Russia insists China buy the natural gas at $300 to $400 per 1,000 cubic meters, the price at which it sells natural gas to European countries. China believes the price should be $200 per 1,000 cubic meters, which is the price it pays for gas from nations in Central Asia and the Middle East.
Chinese and Russian experts said since the project could greatly benefit the two countries, they should deal with it more patiently. They also said China and Russia need to find new ways to boost their economic cooperation along with their changed domestic situations.
Guan said the prospect of energy cooperation will be “infinite.” But currently, their consuming abilities are very different. Statistics show that Russia’s per-capita GDP in 2011 was about $13,236, while China’s was only $5,432, because of its huge population. “If the Russian natural gas price exceeds Chinese people’s ability to pay, there will be no need to rush into an agreement,” he stressed.
Lukin agreed that since the cooperation should be mutually beneficial, the natural gas price should be decided on a level that can satisfy both sides. Besides, even if an agreement cannot be reached, it will not influence the other areas of cooperation.
Sergey Luzyanin, Deputy Director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said China and Russia might be able to discover a new cooperative method of energy cooperation with the involvement of a third country, such as a Central Asian nation.
Challenges ahead
China and Russia have formed a stable and active relationship. Observers pointed out that the two countries need to pay more attention to their economic cooperation and strengthen cooperation on security issues that challenge regional and global stability.
Shi said since the two countries are both at a crucial moment of economic transformation, they need to develop a new cooperative method. In 2011, trade between the two countries reached $79.24 billion. China imported$40.34 billion from Russia, mainly energy and natural resource-related products, and exported $38.91 billion to Russia, mainly machinery as well as electronic and hi-tech products.
“An influential power like Russia will not be content to be only a raw material provider for a long time,” Shi said. He said the two sides need to strengthen cooperation in tech- nology to guarantee the healthy and stable development of economic relations. China is also at a crossroad of economic transformation, and such cooperation will benefit both sides on their modernization, he said. He suggested cooperation between information, transportation and even military enterprises should be encouraged.
Putin and Hu are also expected to discuss international security issues, including the Asia-Pacific region and Syria.
Western countries expelled Syrian diplomats in late May after a massacre of over 100 civilians in a Syrian village. Luzyanin said China and Russia’s stances on the Syria issue are similar. In spite of other countries’ positions, some of which might be inconsistent with facts, China and Russia should stick to UN agreements on Syria, said Luzyanin.
“If the Syria issue goes out of control, the consequences will be much worse than those in today’s Iraq,” he warned. He explained that given Syria’s special position in the Middle East, the country’s situation will influence the whole region and beyond.
Shi said China and Russia should conduct more cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. The United States has announced a plan to deploy an anti-missile system in the Asia-Pacific region. “Such a plan can only make the regional situation more complicated. China and Russia certainly will not accept the plan,” he said.
Chinese and Russian observers said China and Russia have formed a good tradition of high-level communication, and the two sides need to make more efforts on strengthening economic cooperation and work together to deal with security challenges in their region and the world.
Mutual trust
According to the schedule, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Putin will sign a joint statement of deepening all-around strategic cooperative partnership between China and Russia. The statement will call for the establishment of a new security concept based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation. Chinese and Russian experts pointed out that Putin’s visit will set the active tone of developing bilateral relations in next 10 years.
Shi Ze, Director of the Center for Eurasian Security and Development at the China Institute of International Studies, stressed that Putin’s visit to China will be a sign that the Sino-Russian relationship has reached a new level. Shi pointed out that in 2010, China and Russia upgraded their relationship to an allround strategic cooperative partnership. “Such a partnership not only poses new demand but also inputs new drive to the bilateral relationship.”
He said Putin’s last visit to China was in September 2010, six months ahead of Russia’s presidential election. China was the only country that Putin visited before the election, he added.
Alexander Lukin, Director of the Center for East Asian and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Studies at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, agreed that Putin’s Chinese trip will mark good interaction between the two neighbors.“Now we have developed a good tradition on our state leader level,” he said, mentioning that Russia was also the first state that Hu chose to visit after assuming the Chinese presidency in 2003.
Some said it is not necessary to exaggerate the significance of Putin’s visit to China. Guan Guihai, a professor and expert in Russian studies at Peking University, said since Putin is scheduled to attend the coming SCO Summit on June 6-7 in Beijing, his visit to China is a convenient arrangement.
In May, Putin sent Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to participate in the Group of Eight Summit held in the United States, triggering vast comments throughout the world. Guan said in this context overemphasizing how Putin values the relationship with China will easily create uncomfortable competition among the three major powers.
Currently, both sides are confident about their relationship. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said on May 29 that Hu and Putin agreed that they will continue to treat developing Sino-Russian relations as a diplomatic priority. He also said China and Russia have been firmly supporting each other on issues concerning their respective core interests, while the two sides’ political mutual trust is strengthening.
Russian Ambassador to China Sergey Razov said there are no thorny problems in the Sino-Russian relationship, and the two countries share wide common interests.
Energy cooperation
China and Russia are going to conduct a new round of negotiations on Russia transporting its natural gas through pipelines to China, which is an important part of the two countries’ trade and economic ties.
According to the agreement the two sides signed in October 2009, Russia is going to transfer 70 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China via two pipelines every year for 30 years beginning in 2014. But the two sides have yet to agree on the price. Russia insists China buy the natural gas at $300 to $400 per 1,000 cubic meters, the price at which it sells natural gas to European countries. China believes the price should be $200 per 1,000 cubic meters, which is the price it pays for gas from nations in Central Asia and the Middle East.
Chinese and Russian experts said since the project could greatly benefit the two countries, they should deal with it more patiently. They also said China and Russia need to find new ways to boost their economic cooperation along with their changed domestic situations.
Guan said the prospect of energy cooperation will be “infinite.” But currently, their consuming abilities are very different. Statistics show that Russia’s per-capita GDP in 2011 was about $13,236, while China’s was only $5,432, because of its huge population. “If the Russian natural gas price exceeds Chinese people’s ability to pay, there will be no need to rush into an agreement,” he stressed.
Lukin agreed that since the cooperation should be mutually beneficial, the natural gas price should be decided on a level that can satisfy both sides. Besides, even if an agreement cannot be reached, it will not influence the other areas of cooperation.
Sergey Luzyanin, Deputy Director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said China and Russia might be able to discover a new cooperative method of energy cooperation with the involvement of a third country, such as a Central Asian nation.
Challenges ahead
China and Russia have formed a stable and active relationship. Observers pointed out that the two countries need to pay more attention to their economic cooperation and strengthen cooperation on security issues that challenge regional and global stability.
Shi said since the two countries are both at a crucial moment of economic transformation, they need to develop a new cooperative method. In 2011, trade between the two countries reached $79.24 billion. China imported$40.34 billion from Russia, mainly energy and natural resource-related products, and exported $38.91 billion to Russia, mainly machinery as well as electronic and hi-tech products.
“An influential power like Russia will not be content to be only a raw material provider for a long time,” Shi said. He said the two sides need to strengthen cooperation in tech- nology to guarantee the healthy and stable development of economic relations. China is also at a crossroad of economic transformation, and such cooperation will benefit both sides on their modernization, he said. He suggested cooperation between information, transportation and even military enterprises should be encouraged.
Putin and Hu are also expected to discuss international security issues, including the Asia-Pacific region and Syria.
Western countries expelled Syrian diplomats in late May after a massacre of over 100 civilians in a Syrian village. Luzyanin said China and Russia’s stances on the Syria issue are similar. In spite of other countries’ positions, some of which might be inconsistent with facts, China and Russia should stick to UN agreements on Syria, said Luzyanin.
“If the Syria issue goes out of control, the consequences will be much worse than those in today’s Iraq,” he warned. He explained that given Syria’s special position in the Middle East, the country’s situation will influence the whole region and beyond.
Shi said China and Russia should conduct more cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. The United States has announced a plan to deploy an anti-missile system in the Asia-Pacific region. “Such a plan can only make the regional situation more complicated. China and Russia certainly will not accept the plan,” he said.