There has not been such a high-ranking Russian guest in Beijing since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was received on Wednesday not only by his counterpart Li Qiang, but also by state and party leader Xi Jinping, it did not give the impression that China was still looking for some distance. On the contrary.

Jochen Stahnke

Political correspondent for China, Taiwan and North Korea, based in Beijing.

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The strengthening of Sino-Russian relations is "not only a matter of popular sentiment, but also an important trend," Xi said in the Great Hall of the People. He called for cooperation to be raised "to a higher level". Earlier, Mishustin was received by Chinese Premier Li with a guard of honor to the sound of national anthems and gun salutes. Ukraine has so far failed to find its own place in the trend proclaimed by Xi. In any case, the invaded country did not appear in either Mishustin's public words or those of Xi. Likewise, there was no reference to ending the war.

Instead, Xi focused on larger dimensions. China is ready to "continue to support each other" with Russia on issues affecting the "core interests" of both sides, the head of state and party said, according to state television. The core interest here is above all the defense against American influence. Mishustin's visit follows the just-concluded G-7 summit in Japan, where Western leaders announced further military support for Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia, as well as rejected China's claims against Taiwan and the South China Sea.

Mishustin: Energy cooperation has "absolute priority"

The Chinese party newspaper "Global Times" declared that the US wanted to "repeat the Ukraine crisis in the Asia-Pacific region" – and thus obviously located the war guilt in Washington. The rapprochement between China and Russia, on the other hand, should "not be associated with the current Ukraine crisis," the paper explained elsewhere. In Mishustin's case, it was rather a "routine visit". The goal, he said, is to "advance the development needs of both countries, especially as the small clique led by the U.S. intensifies its efforts to encircle the growth of China and Russia."

At least the growth of economic relations between China and Russia has increased dramatically since the beginning of the war. This year, the volume of bilateral trade will reach a new record of two hundred billion dollars, Mishustin said on Tuesday in Shanghai. There, Russia's Prime Minister first attended an economic forum. Over the past year, bilateral trade has increased by thirty percent, largely attributed to Russian oil and gas supplies to China.

Mishustin said that energy cooperation with China is an "absolute priority" for Russia. Russia's energy supplies to China are expected to increase by forty percent this year, the Interfax news agency announced. Xi said "China and Russia should find ways to improve cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and investment." The two sides signed memoranda of understanding on investment facilitation, trade services and the export of agricultural products to China, among other things.

Sanctioned delegation

China now mainly exports vehicles on a large scale to Russia's neighboring country. As can be seen from Chinese customs statistics, the export of commercial vehicles and trucks from China to Russia in the first four months of this year has increased approximately fourfold compared to last year. While six percent of new cars registered in Russia came from China in 2021, this figure has already risen to twenty percent in 2022. This share could double again this year.

Against this background, Mishustin travels with a delegation of ministers and senior business leaders from more than fifteen Russian companies. Some of them, like Mishustin, have long been subject to American sanctions because of their involvement in the Russian war apparatus. Also present at the meetings were China's top foreign policy official Wang Yi and China's top economic politician He Lifeng.

The fact that relations with China are also deepening in the security sector was revealed by the visit to Moscow by Politburo member Chen Wenqing, who is responsible for intelligence services, among other things. Chen had met the secretary of the Russian National Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, on Monday. Patrushev said that deepening relations with China is the strategic course that Russia is on. It's a trend Xi likes.