Chinese look to Putin for boost in relations

According to Chinese state media the Chinese are looking forward to Vladimir Putin’s return to the Russian Presidency, though I am guessing they did not miss him too much since he has been serving as Russia’s Prime Minister. The Chinese are looking for Putin to continue to boost China-Russia relations over the next 6 years.

Putin has been an active promoter of China Russia ties, during his first term as President of Russia the two counties signed "China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation", which was to promote political and commercial ties.

Tatiana Pecherskaya

Blue Bridge consultant Tatiana Pecherskaya points out that despite the world’s financial crisis, bilateral trade volume has risen between the two nations and that China is Russia's number one trading partner as of 2011.

The Chinese benefit from Russian commodities purchases of oil, gas and timber to name a few and with the development of a new gas pipeline from Russia to China there seems to be no slow down in trade between the two nations.

The financial cooperation between the two nations isn’t one sided, China is the 5th largest investor in the Russian economy.

 A bump in the road between the two nations might be that other Asian nations have actively pursued military purchases from Russia to include Vietnam, which has several territorial disputes with China that have recently flared up in the South China Sea and it is thought that the Philippines is interested in upgrading their naval capabilities with Russian military hardware to protect their interest in the South China Sea.

David Nealis

Other than sharing a border the Chinese and Russians also are both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, BRIC Club Members and SCO members. The SCO or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a Central Asian focused platform for regional countries to promote security, stability and trade.

The China – Russia relationship is long and complex, but it is safe to say as long as the Chinese demand for commodities is high, they will continue to import commodities from Russia.

This article has been co-written by David Nealis and Tatiana Pecherskaya of Blue Bridge.

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