BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to cooperate on a range of economic and business areas, both countries said Wednesday.
Prominent on the list was increasing the use of “local” currency, Chinese state media said. The Kremlin was more explicit in stating that the yuan and ruble already account for two-thirds of trade deal payments between the two countries.
Other areas the agreement covered included: expanding bilateral trade, cooperating in energy and food security and developing rail and other cross-border logistics infrastructure.
China is already Russia’s largest trading partner. Official statements from both sides disclosed few details on numbers or timeline of implementation, while noting the plan focused on the years leading up to 2030.
The affirmation of Russia-China economic cooperation comes as the U.S. and its allies have sanctioned Russia over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Beijing has refused to call it an invasion, while calling for peace talks.
Xi went to Moscow this week in his first state visit since gaining an unprecedented third term as president earlier this month — further consolidating his power. “The Russian side held a grand welcome ceremony at the airport,” China’s readout said. “The military band played the national anthems of China and Russia.”
As has been the case, Russia’s readout of the economic agreement went into more detail than Beijing’s.
While the Chinese side only said they would “commit to significantly increase bilateral trade volume by 2030,” the Kremlin release described the planned trade growth as “multiple times over.”
China’s imports from Russia grew by nearly 49% last year in yuan terms to 763.75 billion yuan ($110.89 billion), according to China customs data accessed through Wind Information. That’s faster than the roughly 28% increase in 2021.
In another detail the Chinese side didn’t mention, the Russian statement said that, “When it comes to investment, our countries have compiled a package of 80 important and promising bilateral projects in various fields worth around $165 billion.”
“We support using Chinese yuan in transactions between the Russian Federation and its partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America,” the Kremlin release said.
The U.S. dollar remains by far the dominant currency for global transactions, although publicly available figures indicate use of the yuan has climbed into the low single-digit percentages.
Beijing has pushed for internationalization of its currency, as well as self-sufficiency in energy and food supply.
China and Russia are expanding a natural gas pipeline that supplies parts of China. While Beijing did not mention specifics, a statement from the Russian side this week said it increased gas supplies via the main “Power of Siberia” pipeline by 50% last year.
The two countries separately agreed to work together on media, official statements said. The Russian side said that included joint production of television programs and other cooperation between the two countries’ state-run media.
