Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right). Photo: Associated Press/Dazhi Image (file photo)
It has been more than two months since Russia invaded Ukraine, and while the Russian military continues to cause civilian casualties, China is still cooperating with its ally Russia. However, Boris Titov, an economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that there are many problems in Sino-Russian economic cooperation. Chinese enterprises and Chinese banks are deeply afraid of cooperating with Russia and will be jointly and severally sanctioned by European and American countries, so they do not dare to openly cooperate with Russia. , In addition, European and American technology far exceeds that of China. Under current conditions, Russia cannot rely solely on China for import substitution.
The Russian Satellite News Agency quoted Titov as saying that China and Russia have carried out all-round cooperation in the fields of politics and diplomacy, but there are still many deficiencies in economic cooperation. Under the current circumstances, Russia should not rely solely on China for import substitution. On the issue of import substitution, Russia needs to think hard regarding what it needs and how to replace it, and where to find the best replacement, following all what was not done in the US or the EU can now be easily found in Asia or elsewhere.
Titov continued that, purely in terms of technology, even though China has made great strides in recent years, the technology of the United States and Europe is still ahead. At present, Chinese enterprises and Chinese banks do not dare to openly cooperate with Russia, for fear of being subject to secondary sanctions. For China, “Washington is still the most important trading partner, and we are only ranked 13th.” In addition, China and Russia In the past 20 years, they have not been able to completely switch to settlement in their own currencies, making it difficult for both sides to get rid of their dependence on the US dollar. China and Russia must speed up the establishment of clearing centers and professional banks.
According to the Free Times report, Chinese experts objected to Titov’s remarks. The Russian economy is not big enough, and it is not equal to China. If the trade between the two sides is settled in local currency, Russia can also “globally purchase” with RMB. China’s full hand of rubles can only be used to buy Russian products “very uneconomical”, and complete settlement in local currency between China and Russia “does not conform to China’s interests”, and urges Russia to understand China’s concerns.
