Forum spurs Sino-Russian cooperation, regional benefit

Experts from China and Russia spoke highly of the Eastern Economic Forum held last week in Vladivostok, Russia, as it could further promote the cooperation and understanding between China and Russia and will benefit all of Northeast Asia.

Sergey Glazyev, a regional economic integration adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said President Xi Jinping’s speech at the forum delivered practical messages.

“As President Xi said, China-Russia cooperation in the Far East will bear fruit,” he said.

The speech showed Xi’s broad vision about the future development of the Far East in Russia and the Northeast in China, Glazyev said. The proposals made by Xi about the development of Northeast Asia have gained agreement from world leaders at the forum.

Dmitry Mezentsev, chairman of the Russia-China Friendship Association, said Xi’s participation in the forum showed the two countries’ bilateral relations have reached a higher level.

Mezentsev said Xi’s proposal of enhancing cooperation in Northeast Asia was tremendously important.

“The friendship between China and Russia not only benefits the people of the two countries, but also plays an important role in the security and development of the region and worldwide,” he said.

Xi said in his speech that a united and stable Northeast Asia could meet the interests of all countries in the region, noting that the population of Northeast Asia countries makes up 23 percent of the global population, and that the region’s GDP accounts for 19 percent of the global economy.

Sun Zhuangzhi, head of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the forum has contributed to the development of the ChinaRussia relationship and regional cooperation.

China-Russia cooperation has entered a new stage of development, Sun said, as the forum discussed and resolved the problem of how to carry out bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

“The forum provided chances for Chinese and Russian governors to talk and negotiate. It implemented many projects and started a lot of mechanisms for financing and trade to ensure that the cooperation and communication will go smoothly,” he said.

China hopes to unite the Northeast Asian countries in cooperation, he said, solve problems left unresolved by history and promote further cooperation through this forum.

“Xi made proposals at the forum on how to promote cooperation among the countries of Northeast Asia, which reflects China’s attention to and determination for regional cooperation,” he said.

Fan Mingtai, a senior research fellow on finance at CASS, said the forum was a system for deeper cooperation and global governance.

“Numbers of agreements have been signed during the forum, which are related to the working mechanism of World Trade Organization,” he said. “The forum also opens up a path to better serve the Belt and Road Initiative, where Russia occupies a very important position.”