China and Russia set a model for a new type of international relations and relations between neighboring major countries.
Russian experts noted that the overall bilateral trade has shown steady growth, indicating a stable driving force behind the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
The 2024 China-Russia (Shenyang) Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference held in Shenyang in northeast China in January discussed corridor construction, import and export, cold chain warehousing, and financial services. The conference focused on 55 projects, with the agreements signed totaling 13.6 billion RMB.
Artyom Yakovlev, deputy dean of the Moscow School of Economics at Moscow State University, said Russia-China trade cooperation has a solid foundation, largely due to the complementary nature of their economies. China has been a key trade partner of Russia for over a decade.
Under the framework of the Belt and Road Science, Technology, and Innovation Cooperation Action Plan, China and Russia are promoting deep integration of science, technology, and the humanities.
The Russian High-level Science and Technology Experts China Tour held in central China's Hubei Province in September saw colleges and universities in Hubei, along with innovation institutions, reach 20 cooperation intentions with the Russian delegation for joint talent training and construction of scientific research platforms. Eight agreements were signed.
In space cooperation, the China National Space Administration and Russia's space agency Roscosmos signed an agreement in 2022 to strengthen bilateral space cooperation from 2023 to 2027. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law approving a cooperation agreement between Russia and China on the establishment of an international scientific research station on the moon.
According to a China-Russia joint statement in March, the two sides will deepen mutual cooperation in the field of sci-tech innovation, expand talent exchanges, and focus on frontier areas of science and technology and joint research on common issues of global development. They will also explore new cooperation models in AI, the Internet of Things, 5G, the digital economy and low-carbon economy.
First proposed by Russia, BRICS is preparing a digital payment platform called BRICS Bridge which will complement the existing international payment mechanisms and enhance member states' resilience to external economic sanctions.
Promoting economic globalization is not an easy task. Through the BRI and BRICS, China and Russia have shown that cooperation has a greater effect than acting alone.