(Reuters) -China wants to strengthen cooperation with Russia and defend shared security interests, Premier Li Qiang told visiting Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Monday.
At talks in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, Li described Russia and China as “good neighbours and good partners who trust each other”.
“China is willing to strengthen the alignment of development strategies with Russia and expand cooperation in various fields,” Chinese national broadcaster CCTV quoted Li as saying.
‘NO LIMITS’
Mishustin is on a two-day visit to China which Russia’s TASS news agency said would include talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday.
The talks are expected to centre on economic and technological cooperation as Russia tries to cope with Western sanctions over its war in Ukraine and China faces friction in relations with the United States over trade and technology.
Li and Mishustin held the last regular heads-of-government meeting between Russia and China in August 2024, when China’s premier praised the “new vigor” and “vitality” in mutual ties.
The Kremlin said on Friday it attaches “very great” importance to Mishustin’s visit, but did not say whether President Vladimir Putin would send a message to Xi via his prime minister.
Putin and Xi signed a “no limits” partnership in February 2022. Since then, Russia has turned to China to mitigate the impact of sanctions, highlighting record bilateral trade, increased settlements in yuan and deepening energy cooperation.
The proposed Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which could deliver an additional 50 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year to China through Mongolia from Russian Arctic gas fields, moved a step closer to completion earlier this year although questions remain about pricing.
DECLINE IN TRADE
U.S.–China friction, especially over trade under U.S. President Donald Trump, has spurred Moscow and Beijing to strengthen cross-border commerce, but China-Russia trade has been declining in recent months.
Russian Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov attributed this drop to “external” economic pressure and “market saturation” of Chinese products in Russia.
Chinese state oil majors have suspended purchases of seaborne Russian oil following U.S. sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Moscow’s two biggest oil companies, Reuters reported last month.
China’s September yuan-denominated exports to Russia posted their biggest drop in seven months – down 21% year-on-year, according to Chinese customs data. But China’s imports from Russia swung back to growth in September with a 3.8% rise compared with a 17.8% contraction a month earlier.
On Sunday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng chaired a commission meeting in Ningbo that flagged growth in copper and nickel exports and wider farm-goods access, the Russian government said.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Timothy Heritage)
