Russian PM in China to boost trade

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and his counterpart Li Qiang at a ceremony in Beijing on May 24, 2023. © Thomas Peter / AP

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After Shanghai, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is in Beijing on Wednesday, May 24, where he is due to meet his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping. The goal is to strengthen trade relations to reach $200 billion in trade this year.

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With our correspondent in Beijing, Stéphane Lagarde

The media in Moscow make a lot of noise about this visit, going so far as to speak of a "meeting of the Russian government abroad". The Chinese media here are for the moment more discreet. And you have to go to the website of the Huanqiu Shibao - Global Times in its English version - to find a long account of the visit of the Russian delegation on Tuesday in Shanghai.

A special plane has been chartered for the hundred delegates, several Russian ministers are on the trip, including the one in charge of Energy, Alexander Novak, who announced a 40% increase in hydrocarbon and gas deliveries to China for this year.

The visit could speed up the construction of the Siberian Power 2 pipeline, which once completed, is expected to supply 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China via Mongolia. China last year became Russia's largest customer in the energy sector, according to AFP.

Reaffirming the strength of the strategic partnership

Under Western sanctions related to the war in Ukraine, Russia wants to avoid a collapse of its gas exports. The goal set by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping is to reach $200 billion in trade by 2023, up from $190 billion last year, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said.

Behind this figure, very concrete things like the sales of Chinese mobile phones and cars in Russia, boosted since the aggression of Ukraine by the Russian army and the departure of Western competitors on the Russian market. Russian grain deliveries to China are also on the Russian side.

Chinese diplomacy repeats that it is only "normal economic and trade cooperation", but the visit is economic and political. Observers note, however, that the Sino-Russian forum in Shanghai came the day after the G7 meeting in Japan. And the meetings between Mikhail Mishustin and Chinese Premier Qin Gang, as well as with President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, will undoubtedly be an opportunity to reaffirm the strength of the China-Russia strategic partnership.

► Read also: China-Russia: what vision of the world?

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  • China
  • Russia
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