From May 16 to 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid an official state visit to China.
This is Wang Wen - executive director of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China - view on Putin’s visit to China.
The core points - as reported by CGTN, Phoenix Tv, Shenzhen Satellite TV - are summarized as follows:
When talking about President Xi Jinping’s ceremony to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China, he said that President Putin’s choice of China as his first visit after taking office signifies that China is increasingly important to Russia. In the 75 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, the greatest achievement has been the realization of a high degree of mutual trust in the relationship between the two countries. This mutual trust has reduced a lot of costs for the development of the two countries, allowing the two countries to focus on development. The two heads of state have played an absolute leading role in Sino-Russian relations. Russia's political stability and economic potential are easily underestimated, and Sino-Russian bilateral diplomacy will also bring more pragmatic cooperation between the two countries.
He said that the leadership of the two heads of state has enabled the two countries to continuously move to new heights. The two heads of state tasked the two governments to promote each other. The economic development of the two countries continues to deepen and reach new highs. From the bilateral trade volume of 190 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 to a record high of 240 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, this rare achievement means that Russia will occupy an increasingly larger territory in China's foreign trade. Russian energy is exported to China, and Chinese cars are driven to Russia. This is a "two-way rush."
Wang Wen also mentioned that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s China visit team is huge, with nearly two-thirds of government officials participating, which shows that he hopes to strengthen cooperation with China before the personnel layout for the new term. The high-standard welcome and the emphasis on traditional songs during the visit showed China's respect and also reflected the delicate diplomatic details. Harbin is the provincial capital of Heilongjiang in Northeast China and one of the frontier provinces for Sino-Russian cooperation. Putin's visit to Harbin aims to deepen the understanding of local cooperation between China and Russia and strengthen cooperation between sister cities and provinces.
Standing at the intersection of history and reality and looking to the future, how can China-Russia relations become a model for the relations between major powers and each other's largest neighbors in the world today?
The past two years have been a rare period of observation of Russia's national destiny, so he spent about three months in Russia, with the purpose of learning more about the century-old history of our largest neighbor. Everything that happened under the unprecedented changes. Through cross-analysis, he believes that the Chinese public has a deep misunderstanding of Russia, which is highlighted by underestimation in three aspects. The first is to underestimate the stability of Russian politics. The second is to underestimate the resilience of the Russian economy. The third is to underestimate the quality of Russians.
Wang Wen said that China is the most worthy strategic partner for Russia's economy, and in the context of the United States' policy of containing China, it is an inevitable trend for China to strengthen cooperation with Russia and other non-Western countries.
Wang Wen believes that Russia is China's largest neighbor, so we must look at Russia beyond the shackles of ideology, geography, and historical concepts, and regard Russia as a "potential stock." “If it’s a potential stock, why don’t we buy it at the bottom?”
Regarding some public opinion in the United States and the West hyping up the slight correction of 2% in Sino-Russian economic and trade last month, claiming that Sino-Russian economic and trade has hit the ceiling, Wang Wen believes that what the speculators never mention is that Putin’s visit to China has opened up space for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. Further opening up and further solidifying the foundation. "Fluctuations in individual months are normal and are caused by both exchange rate factors and foreign trade market factors."
Wang Wen believes that without the guidance of heads of state exchanges, China-Russia relations would not be able to reach the high level they are today. Human energy is always limited. More than 40 times is more than the number of times most people meet with people other than relatives and colleagues. The profound friendship between the two heads of state transcends the government and also affects the cultural and social aspects of the two countries.
Wang Wen emphasized that he opposed the view of the United States and the West that normal trade between China and Russia is China's support for Russia. Trade is the right of sovereign states. "Associating with Russia is equivalent to supporting Russia's military actions against Russia and Ukraine. This logic is problematic." Wang Wen said that he had told the West more than once on international occasions, "If China really wants to support Russia the way you support Ukraine, you will lose completely."
Wang Wen once put forward ten suggestions on developing Sino-Russian relations. He told Shenzhen Satellite TV Direct News that he does not believe that the development of Sino-Russian relations will destroy the relationship between China and the West. On the contrary, the better the relationship between China and Russia, the relationship between China and the United States and the relationship between China and the West will be basically guaranteed. "Think about it, if Sino-Russian relations go bad, will the relationship between China and the United States and the relationship between China and the West get better? They will only be bullied more by Westerners, and they will be used by Westerners with so-called trade and technology. Issues in the , energy, currency and ideological areas have been suppressed, so I think it is not a matter of trade-off. On the contrary, it is a parallel relationship. The more China-Russia relations develop, the better the international relations between China, the United States and the West will be in the future. Change for the better and advance better, otherwise both sides will be lost.”