{
"authors": [
"Joseph Cheng",
"Dmitri Trenin"
],
"type": "legacyinthemedia",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"Carnegie China",
"Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center"
],
"collections": [
"China’s Foreign Relations"
],
"englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center",
"programAffiliation": "russia",
"programs": [
"Russia and Eurasia"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"East Asia",
"China",
"Russia"
],
"topics": [
"Economy",
"Foreign Policy"
]
}
Source: Getty
The current state of the affairs between Russia and China is most positive in their history. This relationship is built primarily on an economic pragmatism.
Source: China Radio International’s People In the Know
When Chinese President Xi Jinping went to Moscow in his first overseas visit after being elected China's president, it became quite clear that China-Russian relations are in high gear. The Chinese President is going to Russia again this week, attending the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg and meet with Russian President Putin on the sideline of the global event.
On the China Radio International, Carnegie Moscow Center’s Dmitri Trenin discussed Russia-China relations with Zheng Chenguang. He was joined by Joseph Cheng, chair professor of the department of political science at the City University of Hong Kong.Trenin said he is optimistic about the current state of the affairs between the two powers, which were described as most positive they've shared in their histories. According to Trenin, a relationship built primarily on an economic pragmatism has seen trade rise dramatically to $80 billion per year, and despite some uncertainties the two countries are expected to sign a major gas agreement improving Russia's access to Chinese markets and China's to Russian energy.
Trenin also discussed the extension of Sino-Russian cooperation into the military sphere. Joint exercises, such as the largest joint-naval event staged in the Sea of Japan this July, go a long way toward boosting confidence and trust between the two countries and their militaries. A military alliance, however, remains both unrealistic and unnecessary for both powers, Trenin said.
Despite the partnership-like relationship between Russia and China, Trenin stressed the continuing importance of Russia's investment in its own economic development and modernization given China's larger, growing, and more globally integrated economy. This reality will continue to contextual Russia-China relations and indeed developments in organizations such as the G20 or BRICS.
This interview was originally broadcast on China Radio International.
Joseph Cheng
Former Director, Carnegie Moscow Center
Trenin was director of the Carnegie Moscow Center from 2008 to early 2022.
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
The Plaza Accord was not an externally imposed punishment of Japan but part of a broader restructuring that Japanese economists and policymakers themselves recognized was necessary. Its effects were undermined, however, when Tokyo responded to the resulting slowdown with policies that exacerbated investment, credit expansion, and the very imbalances the adjustment was intended to resolve.
Michael Pettis
The nuclear relationship between China and the United States is increasingly shaped by widening perception gaps rather than deliberate strategic design.
Tong Zhao
China’s banking crisis in the 2000s was resolved by transferring the costs to households through financial repression—a decision that recapitalized the banks while exacerbating the structural imbalances that continue to shape the Chinese economy today.
Michael Pettis
Chinese biotech companies have been on the receiving end of U.S. economic coercion. Yet their responses have differed significantly because firm and state interests are not uniformly aligned. For Washington, treating all Chinese tech firms the same, irrespective of their actual interests, risks pushing them farther into Beijing’s corner.
Xue Gong
China’s latest energy plan explicitly calls for integrating data centers into the electricity system, particularly connecting them to green energy. It appears Beijing wants to use compute as a source of domestic demand to absorb renewables excess capacity.
Damien Ma