Sino-Russian relations and trade

To Remember History, To Open the Future

by Xi Jinping

On May 9th, Victory Day in the world war against fascism, at the invitation of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, I will visit Russia and take part in the celebrations in Moscow devoted to the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. This sacred day I will celebrate together with the Russian people and the entire world.

Everyone remembers that the aggressive wars begun by the fascists and militarists inflicted unprecedented damage and suffering on the peoples of China, Russia, and the countries of Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world. The relentless struggle between justice and evil, light and darkness, freedom and slavery, was joined by the peoples of China, Russia, and more than 50 other countries, as well as by all the other peace-loving peoples of the world, who stood up as one and formed a broad international anti-fascist and anti-militarist front. All these nations fought in bloody battles against the enemy, and in so doing defeated the most evil and brutal aggressors, bringing peace to the world.

I remember, in March 2013, when I first visited Russia on a state visit, I laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin walls. There was a depiction of a soldier’s helmet and a red banner on the tomb, and there burned an eternal fire, symbolizing the unbroken life and unwavering fearlessness of our fallen heroes. “Your name is unknown, your deeds are immortal.” They will never be forgotten by the Russian people, the Chinese people, or anyone else.

China was the main theater of military operations in Asia during the Second World War. The Chinese people stood up before anyone else in the struggle against the Japanese militarists, waged the longest war, fought in the hardest conditions, and, like Russia, suffered the most enormous losses. The Chinese army and people fought stoically and persistently, locking down and destroying numerous contingents of the Japanese aggressors. At the cost of a huge national sacrifice – the lives of more than 35 million people – a great victory was finally won and an enormous contribution was made to victory in the world struggle against fascism. The exploits of the Chinese people in the war against the militarists, just like the exploits of the Russian people, will be immortalized forever in history and will never die.

The Chinese and Russian peoples supported each other, helped each other, they were comrades in arms in the war against fascism and militarism, and built a friendship with each other forged with blood and life. In the most difficult times of the Great Patriotic War, many of the best sons and daughters of the Chinese people decisively joined in the battle against German fascism. Mao Anying – the eldest son of Chairman Mao Zedong – fought on many battles as a political officer of a tank company of the 1st Belorussian Front, up to the storming of Berlin. The Chinese fighter pilot Tang Duo, as deputy commander of a fighter company of the Soviet Army, distinguished himself in air battles against the fascist forces. Children of the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party and descendants of the fallen heroes of the Chinese Revolution, when studying at the Ivanovo international boarding school, despite that they were still only children, nonetheless went off to dig trenches, prepared Molotov cocktails, prepared food and clothes for the fighters, chopped trees, dug out potatoes, and looked after the wounded in hospitals. Apart from that, many of them regularly donated blood – 430 millilitres once per month for the soldiers at the front. The Chinese female journalist Hu Jibang, small and weak, underwent the entire war from the first day to the last, through bullets and fire, writing about the resilience and courage of the Soviet people, the barbarous cruelty of the fascist hordes, and the joy of the Russian soldiers and people in their times of triumph. It emboldened the armies and peoples of both countries, raising their will to fight to the end, to the final victory. Alongside the above heroes there are many other representatives of the Chinese people who contributed to the Great Patriotic War while remaining unknown soldiers.

The Russian people gave the Chinese people valuable political and moral support in their war against Japanese invaders. This included large convoys of arms and war material. More than 2,000 Soviet fighter pilots joined the Chinese air force and helped in the air battles over China. More than 200 of them died in battles over Chinese soil. In the closing phase of the war, Red Army soldiers of the Soviet Union were sent to north-east China. Together with the Chinese army and people they fought against the Japanese militarists, which helped China tremendously in achieving final victory. The Chinese people will always remember the Russians, both soldiers and civilians, who gave their lives for the independence and liberation of the Chinese nation.

The famous Russian historian Vasily Klyuchevsky said, that, having forgotten history, our soul can get lost in the darkness. To forget history is to commit treason. The Chinese and Russian peoples stand ready, together with all peace-loving countries and peoples, and with the automost determination and decisiveness, to oppose any actions or attempts to deny, distort, and rewrite the history of the Second World War.

This year, China and Russia will hold a series of events to mark the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Second World War. There will also be many other events conducted by the UN and other international and regional organizations. The purpose of these events and celebrations is to demonstrate our determination to defend the results of the Second World War, to protect international equality and justice, and to remind out contemporaries that it is necessary to preserve and guard the peace that was won for humanity at too high a price.

The hard lessons of the Second World War tell people, that humanity’s coexistence is not subject to the laws of the jungle; that world politics is diametrically contradictory to belligerent and hegemonic power politics; and that the path of human development is not founded on the principle of “winner takes all” or in games with zero-sum outcomes. Peace – yes, war – no, cooperation – yes, confrontation – no, mutual gains are honored, while zero-sum results – are not: This is what constitutes the unchanging core and essence of peace, progress, and the development of human society.

Today, mankind has unprecedentedly good opportunities for the realization of our goal – peace, development, and the formation of a system of international relations that is ever more strongly based on the spirit of cooperation and mutual benefits. “Unity – is strength, while self-isolation – is weakness.” Cooperation and the win-win principle should be adopted as the basic orientation of all countries in international affairs. We have to unite our own interests with the common interests of all countries, find and expand on the common points of interests of different parties, develop and establish a new conception of multilateral win-win, to always be ready to extend a helping hand to each other at difficult times, to partake together of rights, interests, and responsibilities, and to collectively collaborate to solve growing global problems such as climate change, energy security, cybersecurity, national disasters, and so on. In short, we are in it together on our planet Earth – the homeland of all humanity.

The Chinese people and the Russian people – they are both great peoples. In the years of grief and misery, our indestructible camaraderie was cemented in place with blood. Today the peoples of China and Russian will hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder defend peace, promote development, and make their contributions to lasting world peace and human progress.

flamming_python wrote:Chinese views on Russia

iraqidabab wrote:This may be a dumb question but i'm unaware of this region.

To what extent are Russia-China allies, militarily ?
I heard there are tensions between the 2, whilst I also heard they're both allies against the west.

China are Russia are closer now than at any point in the long history of these two countries.

A $400 billion gas supply deal, clinched by Moscow and Beijing in May 2014, marked a new era in Sino-Russian relations; this rapprochement, partly accelerated by the Western sanctions policy against Russia, is prompting fears for the future of the US' economic status, London-based journalist Catherine Boyle noted.

"Russia's pivot to the East looks set to become even sharper, with its relationship with China deepening, following the fallout from sanctions imposed by the West… The move closer — and as a consequence less reliant on trade with the US and Europe — has raised fears for the West's economic fortunes," Catherine Boyle remarked.

The journalist elaborated that this is far from Russia's first pivot East, referring, in particular, to the history of the development of the trans-Siberian Railroad project in the late nineteenth century.

Citing Russian Railways' president, Vladimir Yakunin, the journalist underscored that Moscow's vision of the trans-Eurasian belt of development now "completely coincides" with the China-led Silk Road project.

Indeed, among a number of Sino-Russian initiatives there is a plan to build a new $300 billion high-speed railway between Beijing and Moscow which is supposed to reduce the time of the journey to one-two days.

At the same time, Russia's "Power of Siberia" pipeline project is aimed not only at delivering gas to Northern China but also at breathing new life into Russia's Far East. The moves have clearly demonstrated that Russia's gas industry focus has been recently shifting from West to East, the journalist emphasized.

Meanwhile, the new Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which Washington refused to join, has created "another pressure point for the West."

"One of the most potentially important parts of this closer relationship between China and Russia is likely to be its effect on the status of the dollar as the world's reserve currency," Catherine Boyle stressed.

While the dollar is maintaining its "near-stranglehold on oil transactions," Moscow and Beijing are pushing ahead a plan to use the ruble and the yuan in bilateral energy deals.

On October 13, 2014, Russia and China signed a currency swap deal worth $24.4 billion. The agreement, aimed at facilitating bilateral investment, was concluded between the Russian Central Bank and the People's Bank of China (PBOC). The decision is likely to strengthen Russia's currency reserves, Boyle noted.

Furthermore, Beijing has already closed similar deals with Argentina and Venezuela, which have been facing economic troubles recently.

China is demonstrating its determination to substitute the US dollar with the yuan in its trade operations with other countries. For instance, the Chinese currency now trades directly with the euro, the Brazilian real, the Australian dollar and many other currencies.

"This could all have the effect in the long term of reducing reliance on the dollar — and consequently undermining the US' economic status," the journalist warned.

PapaDragon wrote:
Sino-Russian Rapid Rapprochement Giving Western Financiers the Shivers

The Sino-Russian rapid rapprochement, accelerated by anti-Russian sanctions, gives Western financiers the shivers and prompts fears for the West's economic fortunes and the future of the US dollar.

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150619/1023585576.html

A $400 billion gas supply deal, clinched by Moscow and Beijing in May 2014, marked a new era in Sino-Russian relations; this rapprochement, partly accelerated by the Western sanctions policy against Russia, is prompting fears for the future of the US' economic status, London-based journalist Catherine Boyle noted.

"Russia's pivot to the East looks set to become even sharper, with its relationship with China deepening, following the fallout from sanctions imposed by the West… The move closer — and as a consequence less reliant on trade with the US and Europe — has raised fears for the West's economic fortunes," Catherine Boyle remarked.

The journalist elaborated that this is far from Russia's first pivot East, referring, in particular, to the history of the development of the trans-Siberian Railroad project in the late nineteenth century.

Citing Russian Railways' president, Vladimir Yakunin, the journalist underscored that Moscow's vision of the trans-Eurasian belt of development now "completely coincides" with the China-led Silk Road project.

Indeed, among a number of Sino-Russian initiatives there is a plan to build a new $300 billion high-speed railway between Beijing and Moscow which is supposed to reduce the time of the journey to one-two days.

At the same time, Russia's "Power of Siberia" pipeline project is aimed not only at delivering gas to Northern China but also at breathing new life into Russia's Far East. The moves have clearly demonstrated that Russia's gas industry focus has been recently shifting from West to East, the journalist emphasized.

Meanwhile, the new Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which Washington refused to join, has created "another pressure point for the West."

"One of the most potentially important parts of this closer relationship between China and Russia is likely to be its effect on the status of the dollar as the world's reserve currency," Catherine Boyle stressed.

While the dollar is maintaining its "near-stranglehold on oil transactions," Moscow and Beijing are pushing ahead a plan to use the ruble and the yuan in bilateral energy deals.

On October 13, 2014, Russia and China signed a currency swap deal worth $24.4 billion. The agreement, aimed at facilitating bilateral investment, was concluded between the Russian Central Bank and the People's Bank of China (PBOC). The decision is likely to strengthen Russia's currency reserves, Boyle noted.

Furthermore, Beijing has already closed similar deals with Argentina and Venezuela, which have been facing economic troubles recently.

China is demonstrating its determination to substitute the US dollar with the yuan in its trade operations with other countries. For instance, the Chinese currency now trades directly with the euro, the Brazilian real, the Australian dollar and many other currencies.

"This could all have the effect in the long term of reducing reliance on the dollar — and consequently undermining the US' economic status," the journalist warned.

Sino-Russian nuclear physics research center to be set up in Siberia
June 16, 2015 Gleb Fedorov, RBTH
The research center will be set up in the university town of Akademgorodok, near Novosibirsk. Russia is keen to expand scientific cooperation with its BRICS peers.

A Russian-Chinese Research Center will be set up at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Akademgorodok, near Novosibirsk, the Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations (FANO) said on June 9.

“The center will be FANO's first mega-science project in the region,” the agency said in the press note. “The purpose of the program is to expand scientific cooperation between Russia and the BRICS countries.”
The press note cited Russian Presidential aide Andrei Fursenko, who was Russia’s Minister of Education and Science in 2004-2014, as saying that the government is ready to allocate funding for non-conventional projects, which have prospects both from the scientific and commercial point of view.

According to Fursenko, the small university town near Novosibirsk was chosen as the site for a new large-scale project in nuclear physics due to its geographical location. Novosibirsk, one of Siberia's largest cities, is located at the heart of Russia, near the border with China and Mongolia. The presidential aide said this would help “effectively develop cooperation with China” in this field.

FANO noted that China is actively moving towards collider physics and is preparing to launch two programs that claim to be important projects of the future. One of them calls for the creation of a Higgs Boson factory, before the one at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is ready. The second project concerns the construction of an accelerator for studying collisions between beams of electrons and positrons.
“The Russian side has significant competency in the field of high energy physics, and the necessary infrastructure, which may become part of a joint Russian-Chinese center," FANO said.

The Institute of Nuclear Physics at Akademgorodok of is one of the world's leading centers for a variety of high-energy and accelerator physics as well as plasma and controlled thermonuclear fusion physics.

The institute carries out large-scale experiments in elementary particle physics, as well as designs modern accelerators.

Russia, China Designing New Heavy Copter
18:15 09.07.2015

Russia and China have reportedly agreed on a concept for a new transport helicopter which will have a payload capacity of fifteen metric tons.
Russia and China are planning to develop a new transport helicopter with a payload capacity of fifteen tons, Russia's news agency RIA Novosti reported.

It quoted Viktor Kladov, spokesman for the Russian state corporation Rostec, as saying that both sides are already in the process of negotiating the helicopter's characteristics.

"It will be a heavy lift helicopter with an empty weight of 38 [metric] tons and payload standing at about fifteen [metric] tons. Thus, the concept is already there. And now, the design and manufacturing company Russian Helicopters is beginning talks with its Chinese counterparts, related to the technical characteristics of the new helicopter," Kladov said.

He also noted that the Russian company plan to sign a general contract with its Chinese partners before the end of this year. Kladov said that Russia is more interested in industrial cooperation, while the Chinese side is seeking to take part in the project within the framework of a joint venture.

According to preliminary plans, Russia's Mil Design Bureau will handle the designing process, while Russian Helicopters is due to focus on the production of the new vehicles.

In May 2015, Russian Helicopters and the Aviation Industry Corporation of China inked a framework cooperation agreement on the project to introduce an advanced heavy helicopter.

The document stipulates that the sides cooperate in all fields pertaining to the development and preparation for serial production of the Advanced Heavy Lift (AHL) helicopter.

The demand for this vehicle in China is expected to stand at more than 200 helicopters in the period until 2040.

The all-weather AHL helicopter will specifically be adapted for round-the-clock service in countries with hot climates and in the highlands.

In May 2014, Russian Helicopters CEO Alexander Mikheev said that Russia and China may develop a new modified version of the Mi-26 Halo heavy-lift helicopter.

The Mi-26 Halo, a heavy transport helicopter with civilian and military applications, is the largest and most powerful helicopter ever to have gone into production.