On June 26–27, 2023, the VIII International Conference of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) “Russia and China: Cooperation in the New Era” was held in Beijing. The conference is organized in Moscow and Beijing under the Memorandum of Cooperation between RIAC and CASS, signed on June 25, 2016 during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China.
The conference lasted for two days. On the first day, during a closed-door meeting, members of the RIAC delegation and CASS experts discussed the most sensitive issues of the bilateral and multilateral agenda, including ways to boost Russia-China partnership. On the second day, Russian and Chinese participants focused on diplomatic, trade, economic and humanitarian contacts between Moscow and Beijing in the course of three open plenary sessions.
Sergey Lavrov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Chairman of RIAC Board of Trustees, and Qin Gang, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, greeted the participants during the conference opening in a video message format.
Sergey Lavrov noted that Russia aims to build mutually beneficial cooperation with China in all areas. He also added that Moscow and Beijing are ready to invest joint efforts to ensure global security and sustainable development at the global and regional levels.
His Chinese counterpart Qin Gang also underscored the ambition of both countries to bring more justice to the international order, in the context of indivisible security, Russia and China are ready to cooperate with each other on a mutually beneficial basis, to coordinate the conjugation of the EAEU and the OBOR so that Moscow and Beijing can ensure stable value and supply chains and promote the prosperity of the region.
Igor Ivanov, RIAC President, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (1998-2004), Gao Xiang. CASS President, Zhang Hanhui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the PRC to the Russian Federation, and Igor Morgulov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the PRC, RIAC Presidium Member, also delivered opening remarks.
According to Igor Ivanov, the harmony of the common interests has made it possible to bring our relations to the highest level in their entire history. These relations are unique in nature and content and could serve as an example of relations between great powers in the new era.
The open part of the conference was divided into three sessions. In the course of the session “China and Russia at the current stage of international relations", Russian and Chinese speakers covered a wide range of topics, namely the promotion of democracy to govern the emerging international order, the practical implementation of agreements between Russia and China to strengthen political trust as an example of brand-new relations between great powers, as well as the development of cooperation between Moscow and Beijing to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
While describing the opportunities for Russia-China interaction in the international arena, Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Academic Director, pointed out that it is essential for Russia and China to develop their own understanding of multilateralism that would not be reduced to the denial of the US-led quasi-multilateralism. For this end, both countries need to systemize BRICS and the SCO experience. Moreover, Moscow and Beijing are well aware what they don’t want, but they don’t always comprehend what an ideal world order entails, and the two countries need to work together to develop this notion.
Chinese experts also emphasized the role of the OBOR in the evolving world. Sun Zhuangzhi, Director, Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (IREECAS CASS), said that it is necessary to abandon stereotypical thinking and to change the world order that is based on “rules and judgments”. Deepening cooperation in the field of trade, infrastructure and interaction between people might facilitate this process.
The list of participants of the first session also included Li Huilai, Vice President, Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, Chairman, State Duma Committee on International Affairs, RIAC member, Andrey Rudenko, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, RIAC member, Feng Shaolei, Head, Centre for Russian Studies, East China Normal University, Kirill Babaev, Head, Institute of China and Contemporary Asia, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), RIAC member, and Wu Dahui, Deputy Director, Institute of Russian Studies, Tsinghua University.
During the second session “Economic cooperation between Russia and China under the new conditions", the participants identified three key areas that require new ideas and solutions in particular, namely simplifying customs procedures in transport and logistics, creating mechanisms to ensure secure mutual settlements, to increase the role of national currencies, and to potentially use the yuan for settlements with third countries in financial cooperation, as well as correcting the imbalance in mutual trade, 38% of which comes from energy sale.
Ivan Timofeev, RIAC Director General, noted that easing the visa regime between the two countries could strengthen ties between small and medium businesses and therefore facilitate Russia-China trade. This direction should become a priority in the bilateral dialogue. Xu Poling, Head, Russian Economic Research Department, IREECAS CASS, contends that Moscow and Beijing should launch negotiations on a free trade zone between Russia/the EAEU and China. According to Viktor Larin, Head, Centre for Global and Regional Studies, Chief Researcher, Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography, RAS Far Eastern Branch, RIAC member, the weakest point in economic ties between Russia and China is cross-border cooperation, since the share of the Russia’s Far East in the bilateral trade turnover is negligible.
It was also accentuated during the session that the recognition of problems is the first step to solve them, and Moscow and Beijing are undoubtedly ready to develop economic relations.
Lu Ruquan, President, Economics and Technology Research Institute, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Anna Bessmertnaya, Chairman, Commission for Foreign Economic Cooperation with Chinese Partners, Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Liu Zhengfu, Head, Research Department, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Fares Kilzie, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Creon Capital, RIAC member, Guo Xiaoqiong, Program Coordinator, Council on China-Russia Strategic Cooperation, Chief Researcher, Department of Multilateral and Interregional Cooperation, IREECAS CASS, Liu Huaqin, Director, Institute of Eurasian Research, Chinese Academy of Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC, also made contributions to the second session.
In the course of the session “Inter-parliamentary and humanitarian cooperation between Russia and China. Restoring Contacts after the COVID-19 Pandemic”, experts focused on finding new prospects for developing friendly ties between the two countries and nations, deepening cooperation in education and science, as well as expanding contacts between Russian and Chinese think tanks.
Alexei Maslov, Head, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University, RIAC member, finds that the priority spheres of Russia-China cooperation in education and science should include updating and expanding training programs for Russian experts on China and for Chinese experts on Russia. He also underlined that this set of measures is crucial to deepen trade and economic cooperation between Russia and China, since many serious deals or agreements fail due to the limited knowledge of proper rules, business etiquette, and business practice.
Alexander Lomanov, Deputy Director for Scientific Work, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, RAS, highlighted slow restoration of contacts between Russian and Chinese experts after the COVID-19, which is mainly attributed to national visa policies. He noted that visa-free regime for experts could elevate bilateral cooperation to a new level.
Jiang Yiyi, Deputy Director, CASS Institute of Scientometrics for Social Sciences, Andrey Denisov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, member of the Federation Council, Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, RIAC member, Liu Xianzhong, Director, Department of Russian History and Culture Studies, IREECAS CASS, Li Qi, Director, Central Asia Institute, Shaanxi Normal University, Qiang Xiaoyun, Director, Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies, Shanghai Institute of International Studies, also took part in the third session.
Ivan Timofeev, RIAC Director General, and Sun Zhuangzhi, IREECAS CASS Director, summed up the results of the conference and highly appreciated the discussion.
