Putin says free trade zone between EEU, China possible

Russian Federation and China are hoping to strengthen economic ties as their leaders signed more than 30 deals on infrastructure, trade, innovation and technology during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing.

Praising the unprecedented current level of trust between Beijing and Moscow, Putin said the phase of strategic cooperation doesn’t fully describe the scale of partnership between the states.

Mutual trust between China and Russian Federation has now reached an unprecedented level and this is reflected in politics, economy, culture, investment, public opinion, people’s mentality and other areas.

“We have maintained contact regularly and carried out consultations on global and regional affairs”, he said, pointing out that such cooperation is a stabilizing factor in worldwide affairs.

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Beyond the economy, the two presidents also discussed a number of worldwide issues.

“As a result of our efforts, the relationship between China and Russian Federation is becoming much closer”. Moscow was also purged from the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations.

Talks on the stake in the East Siberian unit, which increased its oil production 5 percent a year ago to 8.6 metric tons, or about 170,000 barrels a day, will be completed “soon”, Rosneft Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin told reporters in Beijing.

He also noted the Yamal liquefied natural gas (LNG) project deal led by gas producer Novatek with Chinese banks worth over $12 billion, which was concluded in April. “It is important that we talk, that we meet and that we do whatever we can to prevent misunderstandings, miscalculations, and try to reduce tensions”, Stoltenberg said. Russian Federation and China hold similar positions, and sometimes the same position on a number of global issues.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also stressed there was no indication that Moscow was pleased with the result of the vote.

From January to May this year, bilateral trade amounted to $25.8 billion, growing by 2.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. Energy resources account for two-thirds of Russian exports to China.

China’s Silk Road Economic Belt initiative overlaps with the EEU, in the same region where it seeks to establish trade and infrastructure networks overland.

Bilateral projects like this, which are many, will certainly add new impetus to the Silk Road Economic Belt, the inland part of the Belt and Road Initiative that stretches from East Asia to Europe.

The prospect of potential Chinese expansion long has anxious residents of Russia’s sparsely populated far eastern regions, especially over the Kremlin’s decision to surrender significant slices of land along the 4,200-kilometer (2,600-mile) border to China in a 2005 demarcation deal.

“It has brought new propulsion and vitality to the overall strategic partnership of China and Russian Federation”. Russian weapons exports to China, which peaked in the 1990s and fell dramatically in the following decade, have received a new boost recently.