MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/: Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Premier of the Chinese State Council Li Keqiang will hold the 27th regular meeting of the two countries' heads of government on Monday, December 5, in a video conference format, the press service of the Russian Cabinet of Ministers announced on Friday.
"On December 5, 2022, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Premier of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang will hold the 27th regular meeting of Russian and Chinese heads of government in a video conference format," the press service said. The heads of the governments are expected to discuss a wide range of issues on the development of the Russian-Chinese comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation in the investment, energy, industrial, agricultural, transport and humanitarian spheres. In addition, special attention will be paid to the progress of major joint projects in various fields, as well as the deepening of trade and economic cooperation amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions.
At the end of the event, the parties are expected to adopt a Joint Communique of the 27th regular meeting of the heads of the governments of Russia and China.
Russia-China cooperation
China is a leading trading partner of Russia. In 2021, trade turnover surged 35% to $140.7 billion. In the January-October 2022 period, the volume of bilateral trade increased another 27% (higher than the same period in 2021) to $143 billion.
According to a source in the Apparatus of the Government of the Russian Federation, a road map for high-quality development of Chinese-Russian trade in terms of goods and services until 2024 is being implemented. It is aimed at achieving the strategic goal set by the leaders of Russia and China of increasing the volume of trade to $200 billion in 2024. In addition, coordination and work on several dozen joint investment projects with a total sum of declared capital investments to the tune of $160 billion is underway.
The Russian Cabinet of Ministers also noted the dynamic development of cooperation in the energy sector. Russia remains China’s top oil supplier, the export of coal and liquefied natural gas is growing, electricity supplies are stable and the implementation of a large package of agreements on the peaceful use of atomic energy continues.
Growth in share of national currencies and increase in trade turnover
The share of national currencies in bilateral payments for goods and services is on the rise. Cooperation is being developed in the field of banking, insurance and stock exchange organizations, rating agencies and payment systems.
"In the January-October 2022 period, the turnover of agricultural products rose 30% higher than the same period in 2021: up to $4.6 billion, primarily due to stepped-up exports from Russian agro-industrial complex to China," a source in the office of the Cabinet said. According to him, there is great potential in the information and media sphere, work on industrial cooperation projects continues, including the design and development of a wide-body long-range aircraft, and cooperation in the automobile industry is actively expanding. For example, the Great Wall plant in the Tula Region produces up to 40,000 cars a year.
As for cross-border infrastructure, in June 2022, road traffic on the Blagoveshchensk-Heihe Bridge that stretches over the Amur River was opened. In November 2022, traffic was launched on the Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye railway bridge.
Cooperation in education, media, culture, cinema, health, tourism, archives, youth and sports is expanding. That said, 2022 and 2023 have been declared the years of cooperation in physical culture and sports. More than 600 events are planned within this framework.
