Valdai Club

The Sino-Russian conference in Shanghai (March 25 – 26) was very fruitful, open, frank and constructive.

Rapid changes are taking place in current world. We see a lot of puzzling phenomena, various developments that are difficult to explain.

The development and consolidation of Sino-Russian bilateral relations is an important trend within contemporary global affairs. China and Russia are still the backbone in adjusting the new world order. The Sino-Russian strategic partnership could be further deepened and strengthened. As we all know, both Russia and China have quite a few partners in the world. There are 70-odd countries which announced the partnership with China. Nevertheless, as far as Russia and China are concerned, we are talking about strategic partnership, which has a distinctive particularity over others.

As for the nature of Sino-Russian relations, this year marks the 15th anniversary of the “Sino-Russian Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation”. This document is the legal and institutional basis for a stable long-term development of bilateral relations.

Both China and Russia have quite several cooperation mechanisms at various levels. Regular meetings take place on different ministerial levels, between business authorities; energy sectors are developing.

Meanwhile, both countries have rapidly strengthened and consolidated their diplomatic cooperation in all directions in African, South African and South Asian regions. The Sino-Russian friendly cooperation model and the atmosphere of mutual trust are extremely valuable. Either at governmental or non-governmental levels, we should continue with this harmonious atmosphere.

As to Russia’s return to the East, Mr. Sergei Karaganov has mentioned in his report that Russia has failed many hopes. He compared Sino-Russian cooperation to the marriage between an officer and a businesswoman. Since it is a marriage, it means a more intimate relationship. Of course, it is quite natural that sometimes this couple can’t understand each other or even blame each other. They are quite difficult issues that need to be overcome over time.

It is important to emphasize that the “One Belt One Road” and “the Eurasian Economic Union” are not mutually exclusive, but rather complementary. When it comes to the discussions and debates whether the SCO could become a platform for coordination, my concern is that without the consensus of the highest level the topic can’t be talked at such forum. Now it is just a matter of time. Perhaps as a platform for coordination, the wishes of leaders of both countries have not been communicated to the SCO secretariat.

The Sino-Russian conference in Shanghai (March 25 – 26) was very fruitful, open, frank and constructive. We have proposed a lot of new ideas and concepts on how to further deepen and strengthen bilateral relations. These proposals and ideas involve almost all aspects, such as economic, cultural and others. Mr. Karaganov put forward very good suggestions on scientific and technological cooperation, in addition to valuable proposals in the security field. I want to stress that this platform and these approaches of the discussion are very necessary. I sincerely hope that this good tradition will continue in the future.