Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi focuses on China-Russia relations in Sochi

World Today

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi focuses on China-Russia relations in SochiPhoto by Xinhua

With the trade war with the United States heating up, China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi spent Monday in Russia – cultivating a bi-lateral relationship that shows+- much greater signs of promise.

This comes just a month before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected as the guest of honor at Russia’s flagship economic forum in St. Petersburg.

CGTN’s Lucy Taylor was in Sochi for Monday’s meeting.

They have close positions on most international issues. So the Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister could expect a warm welcome in Russia. But afterward, Wang Yi went as far as to suggest the bond is so tight, that it should be an example to the rest of the world.

“We need to ramp up co-operation, comply with international commitments in terms of peace and security,” Wang Yi said. “And in this case, Russian and Chinese cooperation is a role model for the international community.”

“I’d like to support what my Chinese counterpart said on the importance of our nations to the future of the world,” Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister said. “This is not just words. We need to take responsible action.”

Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have shared everything from ice cream to ice hockey over the years. But as China’s trade war with the U.S. heats up, and Russia struggles under US sanctions, can they turn that bond into an economic advantage?

China and Russia are turning to one another politically at a time when their relationships with Western countries are becoming increasingly difficult. But in practice, both still trade far more with the United States and the European Union than with each other.

Russian businesses are looking for opportunities to attract Chinese capital and sell their goods in the Chinese market, but they say it isn’t always easy to compete with the rest of the world.

“If we take political relations between China and the United States, they are not on a good level, as they are between China and Russia,” Anton Mironenko, Russia-Asia Business Council said. “But Chinese businessmen, they prefer the United States, rather than Russia. So, you see that absolutely it doesn’t depend on that.”