On July 23, an online discussion, “Strategic Economic Interaction Between China and Russia in the Post-Pandemic Era”, took place. It was jointly organised by the Valdai Club and the Centre for Sino-Russian Strategic Cooperation at the CITIC Foundation for the Study of Reforms and Development in China. As Andrei Bystritsky, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, noted in his opening remarks, although the post-pandemic period has not yet arrived, it is obvious that the world will be different and one must learn how to live in this new world. In this regard, the participants examined, from different angles, how Russia and China can interact against the backdrop of the new models of globalisation and the diminishing influence of the United States.
Kong Dan, Director of the Centre for Sino-Russian Strategic Interaction at the CITIC Foundation, outlined the general directions of Sino-Russian strategic interaction amid the collapse of the old world order, which was characterised by American hegemony. He stressed the need to increase transactions in national currencies, strengthen the influence on pricing in the commodity markets and to strengthen technological cooperation. Andrei Denisov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the People’s Republic of China, comprehensively characterised the current state of strategic interaction between the countries – from the political agenda to the fight against the pandemic to trade to economic cooperation. He paid special attention to cooperation within the framework of Eurasian integration initiatives, as well as within the framework of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.Li Ruogu, President of The Export-Import Bank of China (2005–2015), discussed the promising areas of cooperation between Russia and China amid the new economic and political landscape. He pointed out the need to jointly preserve and develop an open world trading system and to cooperate in ensuring sustainable development goals, fighting inequality and aiding developing countries. He also considers the development of high technologies to be important. Evgeny Vinokurov, Chief Economist of the Eurasian Fund for Stabilisation and Development, analysed the state of Sino-Russian relations with an emphasis on the economic and financial sphere and gave a number of recommendations. He sees both risks and opportunities for cooperation between China and Russia in the current world crisis.
Wang Xiangsui, Deputy Secretary General of the CITIC Foundation, recounted the geopolitical and geo-economic aspects of Russian-Chinese interaction. He believes that the most promising areas of cooperation are infrastructure development, finances, aviation and space, as well as innovation and the military sphere. At the end of the discussion, Alexey Maslov, Acting Director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, followed up on the topic of scientific, technical and educational cooperation. He also outlined the need to develop a new model of financial globalisation with multilateral management based on innovative financial and technological solutions.
