Amid Ukraine invasion, Xi Jinping offered China’s support for Russia’s core interests

Chinese President, Xi Jinpingoffered on Wednesday Beijing’s support for Moscow’s core interests during a meeting with the Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin.

China there Russia strengthened their diplomatic relations there commercial over the past decade, coming even closer since the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow, despite Beijing’s insistence on its neutrality in this conflict.

Mishustin’s trip this week is the highest-level visit by a Russian official to China since the invasion of Ukraine last year.

Xi said Mishustin that China and Russia continue to offer each other strong support in matters affecting the fundamental interests of each and strengthen collaboration in multilateral arenas, according to China’s official news agency Xinhua.

This kind of somewhat vague formulation is usually used in bilateral meetings with Russian representatives and other countries, and usually refers – as far as China is concerned – to the question of the island of Taiwan.

Xi Jinping is also a lawyer push cooperation in various fields to a higher level and raise the level of economic, trade and investment cooperation.

The Chinese leader also called for strengthening coordination in multilateral arenas such as The United Nationsthere Shanghai Cooperation OrganizationTHE BRICS or the G20according Xinhua.

Mishustin arrived in China on Monday and attended an economic forum in Shanghaibefore heading to the Chinese capital.

On Wednesday, he also met the Prime Minister Li Qiangwho said that relations between Russia and China were at a unprecedented level after a grand welcoming ceremony in front of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

They are characterized by mutual respect for each other’s interests, the desire to respond to challenges together, which is associated with growing turmoil on the international scene and illegitimate sanctions pressure from the collective West, he said. .

Li, for his part, hailed the China-Russia comprehensive cooperative strategic partnership in the new era.

China is Russia’s largest trading partner. Transactions between the two countries reached 190,000 million dollars (about 176,000 million euros) in 2022, according to Chinese customs.

Tuesday, Li Qiang He said that in the first four months of this year, the amount of trade was already 70 billion dollars (64 billion euros), which represents an interannual growth of more than 40%.

The scale of investment between the two countries is also improving continuously, Li said. Large-scale strategic projects are advancing steadily.

Mishustin traveled accompanied by various Russian officials, such as Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novakin charge of the Energy portfolio.

After the talks, the ministers of the two countries signed a series of cooperation agreements in the trade of services and sport, as well as on patents there Russian exports of millet to China.

China became last year the First customer of Russia in the energy sector and he kept Russian gas exports from collapsing, despite Western sanctions imposed on Moscow in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine.

Tuesday, Alexander Novak said at the Shanghai forum that Russia’s energy supplies to China would increase by around 40% in 2023, according to Russian news agencies.

According to analysts, Chinagiven its economic and diplomatic weight, takes the lead in their bilateral relationship with Russia, a growing imbalance as the international community increasingly isolates Moscow.

The leaders of the two countries are more united by grievances and insecurities common than for shared objectives, declared Ryan HassFellow of the Brookings Institution in Washington and former White House official.

both are irritated and feel threatened by Western leaders in the international system and believe that their countries should be given greater deference on matters that concern their own interests, he said.

In February, the Chinese government released a document calling for a political solution to the conflict in Ukrainein which the territorial integrity of all countries will be respected.

A month later, at a summit in Moscow, Xi invited Putin to Beijing.

(With information from AFP)

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