Xi to deepen Russian ties
Visit expected to raise business ties to political level: expert
Chinese President Xi Jinping will begin a state visit to Russia on Monday before flying to Germany for the G20 summit, with warmer business ties expected in his Russia trip, experts said.
Xi’s visit to Russia is his sixth to the country as Chinese president.
Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will issue a joint statement on the four- year ( 2017- 2020) enforcement compendium of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, the Chinese foreign ministry told the press on Thursday.
Agreements on business, energy, investment, transportation, media and education are expected to be signed.
“Xi’s Russia visit is expected to deepen bilateral trade ties and enhance it to the level of political relations,” Li Xin, director of the Center for Russian & Central Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times. “The four- year treaty will offer a guide for bi-
lateral ties.”
The visit will add impetus toward reaching the $ 200 billion China- Russia trade target by 2020.
More private investors should engage in China- Russia trade to back up state- backed investments in projects such as natural gas, Li said.
China has been Russia’s largest trade partner for six years and Russia has been a major source of energy and high- tech imports to China, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Bilateral trade grew by 33.7 percent in the first five months of the year to 223 billion yuan ($ 32.8 billion), China’s General Administration of Customs said.
E- commerce in Russia
“Trade between the two countries is expected to shift from traditional areas, such as energy, to consumer products,” Li told the Global Times.
Although overcapacity in China has led to a lower demand for raw materials, there is greater potential in promoting tourism, services, hi- tech and videogames, Li said.
“E- commerce businesses between the two nations are the most promising, and are expected to grow,” he said.
AliExpress, the B2C platform of Chinese e- commerce giant Alibaba, entered Russia in 2012 and became one of the most popular e- commerce platforms in Russia in 2016, with around 22.2 million users, China Trade Daily reported.
A Beijing- based clothing company which topped sales on AliExpress in Russia in 2016, told the Global Times they had daily sales of around $ 30,000.
“Our most popular products in Russia are down jackets, which are designed for the Russian physique and tastes,” Gou Shanchao, director of e- commerce operations, said, adding that more than 3,000 deals were made during last year’s Singles’ Day online shopping festival.
Chinese products and their competitive prices will attract the Russian market, Guo told the Global Times. “Chinese businesses have a bright future in Russia.”
Cross- border logistics, however, were an obstacle for Russian customers, Guo said. “Our suppliers need longer delivery times than their local counterparts.”
A study by the Association of On- line Retail Companies said about 90 percent of goods purchased abroad came from China, Russia- based RBTH Daily reported.
A new China- US deal that allows US beef and natural gas exports to China has put pressure on Russia, Li said.
Therefore, an agreement on the construction of Power of Siberia– 2 pipeline is expected to be signed during Xi’s visit to Russia.
Xi and Putin will also advance the connection of the Belt and Road initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union ( EAEU), according to Li.
“Many Chinese investors complain about the tedious paper work and complex administrative inspection in Russia which has slowed down their projects, so improvements in Russia’s investment climate need to be addressed during Xi’s visit,” he said.
On Tuesday, Xi will head to Germany to attend the G20 summit. “The G20 summit will solve disputes, and the climate change agreement is likely to be one of the issues on Xi’s agenda,” Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times.