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China-Russia: $200+ Billion in Trade and Growing – Xi Jinping Celebrates the Success!

China’s President Xi Jinping is hailing the success of its cooperation with Russia as record trade between the two countries topped its $200 billion target this year. The overall figure was achieved despite the persistent challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking from Beijing at the two nations’ annual bilateral summit, Xi said trade exceeded the $200 billion milestone in 2020, a result he attributed to the “unstinting efforts” of the two sides. Trade between the two countries has increased significantly over the past decade, with the figure doubling from $100 billion in 2014 to the historic high of $214 billion last year. The 2019 figure was an increase of 8.3 percent over the previous year. The growth of trade marks a new period of cooperation between the two countries that enjoyed a special relationship during the Cold War era. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, China and Russia have developed a robust strategic partnership, forming a mutually beneficial and interdependent relationship that has included the deepening of political, economic, military, and people-to-people ties. The two countries have been expanding their economic cooperation, with trade topping $137 billion in the first eleven months of 2020. One highlight of Sino-Russian ties this year was the signing of the $400 billion gas deal. In this agreement, China’s state-owned energy companies purchased nearly 38 billion cubic meters (1.3 trillion cubic feet) of Russian natural gas each year for the next three decades. Both nations have also increasingly coordinated their global initiatives. In particular, they have formed a united front against President Donald Trump’s trade policies. At the summit, the two sides reaffirmed their commitment to the “equality, mutual respect, and non-interference in the internal affairs of each other”. Through the success of their cooperation, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin have sent a strong message to the world that the two sides are determined to chart their own path to build a better world.