BIZCHINA> Review & Analysis
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BIZCHINA> Review & Analysis
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Tap potential for more tie-ups
By Xing Guangcheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-14 07:59 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is on a three-day visit to China and due to attend a heads of government meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members today. The first visit to China by Putin as Russia's prime minister, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, marks a crucial step towards consolidating Sino-Russian strategic cooperative partnership. China and Russia have witnessed smooth development of their ties this year. During President Hu Jintao's visit to Russia this summer, the two heads of state made a review on the 13-year-long history of the partnership and mapped out directions for further development of their ties in the years ahead. Since the establishment of Sino-Russian strategic cooperative partnership in 1996, cooperation between the two countries in the energy, economic and trade, science and technology, cultural and other spheres have kept widening. Entering the new century, bilateral ties have gone forward, as is indicated by the concrete steps taken by both sides to tap larger cooperation potential, deepen pragmatic exchanges and improve cooperation quality in a variety of fields. For example, a series of legal documents have been drafted in both countries aimed at laying a solid legal foundation for bilateral cooperation. Mutual political trust has been further enhanced and both countries have taken developing their strategic cooperative partnership as a long-term diplomatic priority. Beijing and Moscow have extended their staunch support to each other on issues of importance to their sovereignty and territorial integrity, and conducted closer cooperation and coordination on a number of significant international and regional matters. In addition, non-governmental exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, characterized by frequent personnel exchanges, have also been booming, contributing a lot to the deepening of mutual understanding between the two peoples and consolidation of their traditional friendship. With bilateral cooperation covering a variety of fields, Sino-Russian relations are now at a new starting point that will achieve larger objectives if efforts are made by both sides. Sino-Russian strategic cooperative partnership is a new type of healthy state-to-state relationship as a basis for mutual benefit. Different from the former China-Soviet alliance that was mainly built on their common ideology, China's cooperation with Russia is based totally on many of their overlapping national interests. The two countries have maintained intimate cooperation, but at the same time adhered to separate stances and self-reliance on the international stage, in an effort to maintain an independent diplomatic posture that serves their respective national interests. Compared to the situation during the Cold War era, the current Sino-Russian ties are on a more equal and wider footing. Both countries have been fully cognizant of the importance of building their bilateral ties and mutually beneficial cooperation on the construction of closer economic links. The advancement of Sino-Russian relations has been driven not only by their larger cooperation demands as a result of their economic and social development, but also by their desire to better adapt themselves to the changed international and regional political and strategic landscapes. Certainly, there have also emerged some new problems in Sino-Russia relations that should be properly addressed. The two countries should not overstate emerging problems in bilateral exchange, but try to defuse any dispute in a pragmatic and cooperative manner to further push bilateral cooperation forward. Both Beijing and Moscow should be well aware that differences and disputes between the two countries, if not properly handled, may possibly cloud the friendly bilateral atmosphere and even sabotage their hard-won mutual trust. The two countries should take larger steps towards promoting economic cooperation and deepening mutual understanding and communication. One of the most immediate requirements is that they should take effective measures to resolve the "gray customs clearance", a Russian trade policy that has long plagued bilateral trade, as well as the skewed trade structure to promote larger economic cooperation between the two countries. Also, the "China Threat" tone that exists within Russia is unfavorable to a smooth bilateral relationship, should be eradicated through increased interaction and communication at all levels.
Despite achieving remarkable progress in recent years, Sino-Russian economic and trade cooperation still remain at a low level when compared with bilateral political relations. The two countries should expand bilateral economic and trade cooperation to energy, hi-tech, and financial sectors. A deepened cooperation in energy and resource, technology, finances and investment will help both countries defuse the negative impact of the global financial crisis on their economies. The global economic recession has had a negative effect on the two countries' foreign trade to different degrees. Consequently, bilateral trade this year has reduced by a large margin. It is expected that Putin's visit will contribute to bilateral cooperation in the areas of energy, communication, investment and technology, and push forward the sturdy and well-founded bilateral ties in a more pragmatic manner. The author is a researcher with the Center of China's Borderland History and Geography Research under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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