Russia
Author: Valeria Gorbacheva
Source: www.nkibrics.ru

Valeria Gorbacheva, Government and Public Organizations Communication Director at the BRICS National Research Committee – especially for InfoBRICS.

The initiative of trilateral contacts between Moscow, Delhi and Beijing belonged to Yevgeny Primakov (Russia's Foreign Minister in 1996-1998.) Back in the 1990-s Primakov foresaw the strengthening of Russia, India and China, which eventually would make these large continental powers an integral part of the new world order.

New format

Foreign Ministers of Russia, India and China held their first meeting in 2002, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. Since then, foreign ministers meet regularly (annually or every 1.5-2 years). The RIC format of ministerial meetings is constantly evolving, complemented by new mechanisms, such as consultations on the level of foreign policy agencies, secretariats of the Security Councils, academic forums and, finally, summits.

The first meeting of the leaders of Russia, India and China was held in 2006 as part of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg. With the rise of new centers of power, the troika format formed the core for a new integration association - BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa).

The first summit of BRICS (the "Five") was held on Russia's initiative in Yekaterinburg in 2009. The new format of BRICS, the core of which was RIC, was set to be the main platform for holding regular meetings of the heads of five states. However, 12 years later, the RIC format received a new impetus: at the end of 2018, the leaders of the three powers gathered on the initiative of Russia on the margins of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. The leaders of India and China supported the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that such meetings should become regular.

In search for compromises

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the RIC format became one of the driving forces of regional efforts to enhance the architecture of interstate relations in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR)." The parties are counting on the ongoing development of multilateral cooperation in order to promote a joint approach to ensuring global and regional security and sustainable development based on the principles of international law, good neighborliness, equality and mutual respect. The RIC format is an example of how to search for compromises and how to find them. Despite the peculiarities of holding tripartite negotiations, where each country seeks to act according to its national interests, the parties always come to a common decision.

Today, the RIC format remains in demand as a tool for finding answers to the key challenges of our time. Strengthening tripartite contacts is in the interests of the whole world, since it contributes to the coordination of efforts in building a more democratic and fair system of international relations. The stabilizing nature of RIC gives strength to other international formats. The consolidation of the foreign policy coordination of the three countries continues within the framework of the UN, the G20, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the East Asia Summit, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), etc.

It is no secret that the history of Russia's relations with its partners in the "triple alliance" is strategic. As the largest players in the region, Russia, India and China are actively developing partnerships on a bilateral basis, while stable channels of strategic ties allow them to skillfully maneuver in terms of the implementation of their foreign policy ambitions in Greater Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific Region.

Russia-China: dialogue among equals

The USSR and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations in 1949. The USSR became the first foreign state to announce the recognition of the PRC. The basic principles and directions of bilateral cooperation are reflected in the Treaty on Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between the People's Republic of China the Russian Federation signed in 2001.

Traditionally warm relations between Russia and China allow them to further strengthen their comprehensive, equitable, trusting partnership and strategic interaction at all levels. At the same time, the countries do not bind each other in relations with third states, and the potential for the development of bilateral conflict tends to zero.

The two geopolitical giants (however, the economic weight of China is unquestionably higher than that of its neighbor, Russia) feel quite comfortable at a certain distance from each other. China's economic power will continue to grow, and Russia needs to expand its advantages (natural resources, agriculture, military and civilian technologies) to maintain influence in the region. In addition, the process of connecting the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) with China's One Belt and One Road initiative will serve as an incentive for the Russian economy - extensive infrastructure projects will connect China and East Asia with Europe by land, air and sea (Northern Sea Route).

In general, the political dialogue between Russia and China is very intensive. The leaders of the two countries meet at least five times a year. There is also a mechanism for regular meetings of the heads of government of Russia and China. Consultations on strategic security are underway. A course has been taken to deepen trade and economic cooperation (primarily on infrastructure and energy), as well as military-technical and humanitarian cooperation. The countries have intensified cooperation for the development of the Far East. Since 2010, China has been Russia's largest trading partner. The two states are also intensively developing cooperation in such areas as education, science and culture.

Russia-India: strategic partnership in action

Russia has accumulated 70 years of experience in mutually beneficial partnerships with India. Diplomatic relations between the USSR and India were established in 1947. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia and India signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in 1993. This became the founding document of the bilateral relations. In 2000, the two countries signed the Declaration on Strategic Partnership.

Today, India is actively developing, strengthening its economic and military-political potential. Together with China and Russia, it is becoming one of the main driving forces in the area of Greater Eurasia (in fairness, Europe should also be counted among these centers of power). Considering India's lightning-fast rapprochement with the United States, fueled by geopolitical ambitions to build the Indo-Pacific regional initiative and the desire of the United States to gain a firm foothold in the Asian Pacific region, Russia needs to build comprehensive, privileged partnership with India. High density of political contacts is the best way to strengthen bilateral dialogue.

The leaders of Russia and India meet regularly, both on bilateral summits and "on the margins" of multilateral forums.

Military-technical, trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation is actively developing. Russia is an important partner of India in the development of peaceful nuclear energy. The countries are developing cooperation in oil and gas sector and implementing large-scale infrastructure projects. They also pay special attention to the development of intercultural dialogue.

India-China: growing ties

Although the diplomatic relations of modern India and China were established in 1950, the history of cultural and economic cooperation of the two most ancient civilizations dates back over 2,000 years (the Great Silk Road).

Today, India and China are the two fastest growing centers of power. Both countries are large players, each of which is seeking to occupy a leading position in the region. There will hence be healthy competition and emerging territorial disputes.

In the late 1980s, the countries embarked on a course of building up diplomatic and economic ties. Today, despite the opposition of Washington, India and China are developing a strategic partnership aimed at peace and prosperity.

However, the geopolitical ambitions of India, which positions itself as an Indo-Pacific power, its close ties with the United States and its allies among the maritime powers - Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and others - can lead to an imbalance in the region, where the situation is already very unstable.

India's choice in favor of this or that alliance (RIC or "a diamond of democracies") will be crucial not only for Eurasia, but for the whole architecture of international relations. Today, sustainable development of the Eurasian region is the key to sustainable global security is the stability. However, it is known for certain that India will continue to develop a multi-vector foreign policy, and one has to live with it.

It is in the interests of Russia that the formal RIC could become a permanent consultative mechanism on security, stability and sustainable development issues throughout the Eurasian region. The ongoing tripartite strategic dialogue will enable Russia to ease tensions between its two largest Asian partners. For this purpose, it is necessary to step up interaction in four main areas acting in the spirit of openness, solidarity, mutual understanding, trust and respect: regional and global security, economic development, exchange of experience in the areas of mutual interest, cooperation in countering new challenges and threats.

What is on the agenda?

Traditionally, the negotiations in the RIC format have a very extensive agenda. The parties freely and frankly exchange views on the situation in Venezuela, Syria and Afghanistan, discuss the Iranian nuclear program and arms control, the situation on the Korean Peninsula and other issues.

As for the economy, the countries are striving together to protect the principles of fair competition in world trade and finance, to promote the formation of the most open system of international economic relations, free from protectionism and politically motivated restrictions, to develop integration associations.

In particular, at the recent meeting in Uchzhen, the Foreign Ministers of Russia and China discussed the details of the Russian-Chinese "road map" on the Korean settlement. Today, even Washington admits the need for this joint initiative of Russia and China. The ministers also discussed preparations for the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing for taking part in the Belt and Road Forum and participation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping as the main guest at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

In turn, Russia and India discussed the schedule of upcoming bilateral contacts and the preparation of Indian participation in the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

The three parties made an important decision for the development of RIC – they agreed to continue trilateral coordination at other levels and, if necessary, to create additional interaction mechanisms. In particular, they agreed to consider creation of a mechanism for regular meetings of the Defense Ministers of the three countries. This, however, does not mean that RIC will turn into a military-political alliance. The Chinese party even proposed going further by developing the RIC-plus format. The next meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China will be held in Russia.

Brazil
Author: Elisabetta Basile, Claudio Cecchi
Source: www.nkibrics.ru

Valeria Gorbacheva, Government and Public Organizations Communication Director at the BRICS National Research Committee – especially for InfoBRICS.

The initiative of trilateral contacts between Moscow, Delhi and Beijing belonged to Yevgeny Primakov (Russia's Foreign Minister in 1996-1998.) Back in the 1990-s Primakov foresaw the strengthening of Russia, India and China, which eventually would make these large continental powers an integral part of the new world order.

New format

Foreign Ministers of Russia, India and China held their first meeting in 2002, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. Since then, foreign ministers meet regularly (annually or every 1.5-2 years). The RIC format of ministerial meetings is constantly evolving, complemented by new mechanisms, such as consultations on the level of foreign policy agencies, secretariats of the Security Councils, academic forums and, finally, summits.

The first meeting of the leaders of Russia, India and China was held in 2006 as part of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg. With the rise of new centers of power, the troika format formed the core for a new integration association - BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa).

The first summit of BRICS (the "Five") was held on Russia's initiative in Yekaterinburg in 2009. The new format of BRICS, the core of which was RIC, was set to be the main platform for holding regular meetings of the heads of five states. However, 12 years later, the RIC format received a new impetus: at the end of 2018, the leaders of the three powers gathered on the initiative of Russia on the margins of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. The leaders of India and China supported the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that such meetings should become regular.

In search for compromises

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the RIC format became one of the driving forces of regional efforts to enhance the architecture of interstate relations in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR)." The parties are counting on the ongoing development of multilateral cooperation in order to promote a joint approach to ensuring global and regional security and sustainable development based on the principles of international law, good neighborliness, equality and mutual respect. The RIC format is an example of how to search for compromises and how to find them. Despite the peculiarities of holding tripartite negotiations, where each country seeks to act according to its national interests, the parties always come to a common decision.

Today, the RIC format remains in demand as a tool for finding answers to the key challenges of our time. Strengthening tripartite contacts is in the interests of the whole world, since it contributes to the coordination of efforts in building a more democratic and fair system of international relations. The stabilizing nature of RIC gives strength to other international formats. The consolidation of the foreign policy coordination of the three countries continues within the framework of the UN, the G20, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the East Asia Summit, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), etc.

It is no secret that the history of Russia's relations with its partners in the "triple alliance" is strategic. As the largest players in the region, Russia, India and China are actively developing partnerships on a bilateral basis, while stable channels of strategic ties allow them to skillfully maneuver in terms of the implementation of their foreign policy ambitions in Greater Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific Region.

Russia-China: dialogue among equals

The USSR and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations in 1949. The USSR became the first foreign state to announce the recognition of the PRC. The basic principles and directions of bilateral cooperation are reflected in the Treaty on Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation between the People's Republic of China the Russian Federation signed in 2001.

Traditionally warm relations between Russia and China allow them to further strengthen their comprehensive, equitable, trusting partnership and strategic interaction at all levels. At the same time, the countries do not bind each other in relations with third states, and the potential for the development of bilateral conflict tends to zero.

The two geopolitical giants (however, the economic weight of China is unquestionably higher than that of its neighbor, Russia) feel quite comfortable at a certain distance from each other. China's economic power will continue to grow, and Russia needs to expand its advantages (natural resources, agriculture, military and civilian technologies) to maintain influence in the region. In addition, the process of connecting the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) with China's One Belt and One Road initiative will serve as an incentive for the Russian economy - extensive infrastructure projects will connect China and East Asia with Europe by land, air and sea (Northern Sea Route).

In general, the political dialogue between Russia and China is very intensive. The leaders of the two countries meet at least five times a year. There is also a mechanism for regular meetings of the heads of government of Russia and China. Consultations on strategic security are underway. A course has been taken to deepen trade and economic cooperation (primarily on infrastructure and energy), as well as military-technical and humanitarian cooperation. The countries have intensified cooperation for the development of the Far East. Since 2010, China has been Russia's largest trading partner. The two states are also intensively developing cooperation in such areas as education, science and culture.

Russia-India: strategic partnership in action

Russia has accumulated 70 years of experience in mutually beneficial partnerships with India. Diplomatic relations between the USSR and India were established in 1947. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia and India signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in 1993. This became the founding document of the bilateral relations. In 2000, the two countries signed the Declaration on Strategic Partnership.

Today, India is actively developing, strengthening its economic and military-political potential. Together with China and Russia, it is becoming one of the main driving forces in the area of Greater Eurasia (in fairness, Europe should also be counted among these centers of power). Considering India's lightning-fast rapprochement with the United States, fueled by geopolitical ambitions to build the Indo-Pacific regional initiative and the desire of the United States to gain a firm foothold in the Asian Pacific region, Russia needs to build comprehensive, privileged partnership with India. High density of political contacts is the best way to strengthen bilateral dialogue.

The leaders of Russia and India meet regularly, both on bilateral summits and "on the margins" of multilateral forums.

Military-technical, trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation is actively developing. Russia is an important partner of India in the development of peaceful nuclear energy. The countries are developing cooperation in oil and gas sector and implementing large-scale infrastructure projects. They also pay special attention to the development of intercultural dialogue.

India-China: growing ties

Although the diplomatic relations of modern India and China were established in 1950, the history of cultural and economic cooperation of the two most ancient civilizations dates back over 2,000 years (the Great Silk Road).

Today, India and China are the two fastest growing centers of power. Both countries are large players, each of which is seeking to occupy a leading position in the region. There will hence be healthy competition and emerging territorial disputes.

In the late 1980s, the countries embarked on a course of building up diplomatic and economic ties. Today, despite the opposition of Washington, India and China are developing a strategic partnership aimed at peace and prosperity.

However, the geopolitical ambitions of India, which positions itself as an Indo-Pacific power, its close ties with the United States and its allies among the maritime powers - Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and others - can lead to an imbalance in the region, where the situation is already very unstable.

India's choice in favor of this or that alliance (RIC or "a diamond of democracies") will be crucial not only for Eurasia, but for the whole architecture of international relations. Today, sustainable development of the Eurasian region is the key to sustainable global security is the stability. However, it is known for certain that India will continue to develop a multi-vector foreign policy, and one has to live with it.

It is in the interests of Russia that the formal RIC could become a permanent consultative mechanism on security, stability and sustainable development issues throughout the Eurasian region. The ongoing tripartite strategic dialogue will enable Russia to ease tensions between its two largest Asian partners. For this purpose, it is necessary to step up interaction in four main areas acting in the spirit of openness, solidarity, mutual understanding, trust and respect: regional and global security, economic development, exchange of experience in the areas of mutual interest, cooperation in countering new challenges and threats.

What is on the agenda?

Traditionally, the negotiations in the RIC format have a very extensive agenda. The parties freely and frankly exchange views on the situation in Venezuela, Syria and Afghanistan, discuss the Iranian nuclear program and arms control, the situation on the Korean Peninsula and other issues.

As for the economy, the countries are striving together to protect the principles of fair competition in world trade and finance, to promote the formation of the most open system of international economic relations, free from protectionism and politically motivated restrictions, to develop integration associations.

In particular, at the recent meeting in Uchzhen, the Foreign Ministers of Russia and China discussed the details of the Russian-Chinese "road map" on the Korean settlement. Today, even Washington admits the need for this joint initiative of Russia and China. The ministers also discussed preparations for the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing for taking part in the Belt and Road Forum and participation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping as the main guest at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

In turn, Russia and India discussed the schedule of upcoming bilateral contacts and the preparation of Indian participation in the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

The three parties made an important decision for the development of RIC – they agreed to continue trilateral coordination at other levels and, if necessary, to create additional interaction mechanisms. In particular, they agreed to consider creation of a mechanism for regular meetings of the Defense Ministers of the three countries. This, however, does not mean that RIC will turn into a military-political alliance. The Chinese party even proposed going further by developing the RIC-plus format. The next meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China will be held in Russia.

China
Author: Pepe Escobar
Source: www.asiatimes.com

A single image epitomizes the hurricane at the center of the current geopolitical chessboard: an extremely affectionate handshake between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

The image crystallizes the stuff of nightmares by those in the US that still follow the Eurasian prophecies of Halford Mackinder and his disciples, such as the late Zbigniew "Grand Chessboard" Brzezinski, that focused on the imperative of preventing the emergence of a peer competitor in Eurasia.

The peer competitor has emerged, in full: the Russia-China strategic partnership.


On Wednesday, Xi said at the Kremlin this was his eighth trip to Russia since 2013 – when the New Silk Roads, or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), were announced. And he added he and Putin had met "almost 30 times" since then.

Among a raft of agreements signed by Putin and Xi, one stands out: the drive to develop bilateral trade and cross-border payments using the ruble and the yuan, bypassing the US dollar. Or, as Putin diplomatically put it, "Russia and China intend to develop the practice of "settlements in national currencies."

It's crucial to remember this has been discussed in depth at the BRICS level – and specifically by the Russia-China strategic partnership – since the mid-2000s.

Vast swathes of the Global South are paying attention. Trade balance settlement everywhere is bound to progressively embrace the use of other currencies, not only ruble and yuan.

After their bilateral meeting, Xi warned that "currently, the international situation is experiencing unprecedented, over the centuries, profound changes. Peace and development remain the trends of the time, but raise-your-head protectionism, unilateralism, increasing power politics and hegemonism."

That's an understatement. Russia is under harsh US sanctions. China is facing an all-out trade war. The Russia-China strategic partnership is the bête noire of the US National Security Strategy.

In sync
Geopolitically, Russia-China is in total sync. On Syria, and the necessity of preventing "moderate rebel" jihadis from migrating to Xinjiang, Central Asia and the Caucasus. On the necessity of preserving the JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal. On the necessity of solving the Korean peninsula riddle. On the necessity of supporting Venezuela – with military cooperation and humanitarian aid.

Crucially, they're in sync on Putin's total support for BRI, as well as the drive to merge BRI and Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU) projects. It's this interconnection that may solidify Moscow's aim of configuring Russia as the key Eurasian land bridge.

It's fitting that Putin and Xi, apart from clinching deals, had so much to discuss in Moscow.

And all this happened before Putin and Xi met top executives of over 50 Russian and 60 Chinese companies attending the second Russian-Chinese Energy Forum, organized by Rosneft and China National Petroleum Corp. And before Putin's much-awaited speech on the current turbulent geopolitical chessboard, side by side with Xi, at the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday.

St Petersburg SPIEF is Russia's top annual business forum. It's absolutely impossible to understand the nuts and bolts of the complex machinery of progressive Eurasia integration without attending or following SPIEF's debates and discussions.

2019 is, in so many aspects, The Year of Living Dangerously. The chessboard is totally monopolized by the clash between the US and Russia-China – with the added twist of the Trump administration flirting with a "reverse Nixon" strategy to split Russia from China. So, it's fitting for Xi to be a guest of honor at SPIEF. And that is only the first of three crucial Xi-Putin meetings this month.


Next week, they meet again in Bishkek for the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit – where topics they discussed in Moscow and St Petersburg will be shared with Central-South Asian nations, including crucial SCO observer Iran.

Arguably the key issue in Bishkek will be how Putin and Xi handle fellow BRICS member India's Modi, fresh from an electoral victory, and dreaming of a starring role in Washington's Indo-Pacific strategy – which is essentially yet another "containment of China" mechanism.

And they meet again in Osaka – along with the other BRICS members – on June 28 for the G20 summit.

The St Petersburg meeting this year staged some absolutely essential discussions revolving around Eurasian integration. Most of these issues are simply ignored across the West. Here are just a few examples, which deserve to be closely examined.

• The transportation challenges facing SCO member nations, in a panel featuring SCO secretary-general Vladimir Norov, and an excellent intervention by KPMG's global head of infrastructure Richard Threlfall;

• An energy panel featuring Rosneft's CEO Igor Sechin, Qatar's Finance Minister Ali Shareef al-Emadi, BP's group chief executive Robert Dudley and president of ExxonMobil global projects Neil Duffin;

• A discussion on the current paradigm shift in the global economic order, featuring Russia's Deputy Minister of Economic Development Timur Maksimov, the head of Emerging Markets Economics and Strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch David Hauner, and the extremely articulated Paul Chan, Hong Kong's financial secretary;

• A wide-ranging panel on business/investment across Eurasia, featuring the president of the EAEU's business council, Viktor Khristenko, the chairman of the management board of the Eurasian Development Bank, Andrey Belyaninov, Russia's first Deputy Prime Minister Anton Siluanov, and Sberbank's head of analytical directorate Yaroslav Lissovolik;

• What's evolving business-wise around the Russia-China strategic partnership, leading to joint large-scale projects in infrastructure, energy and high-technology, featuring CEOs and directors of top Russian and Chinese companies.

The Putin-Xi meetings, the discussions at St Petersburg, and the SCO summit next week, in less than 10 days, fully articulate the road map ahead for Eurasian integration. Over it all hangs the ultimate (economic) paradigm shift: multiple nations getting ready to bypass the US dollar as the world's reserve currency.

China
Source: en.kremlin.ru

Press statements following Russian-Chinese talks.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: President Xi Jinping, my dear friend, ladies and gentlemen,

I am very pleased to receive President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping in Russia. This state visit by China's President is taking place in a year that marks an important date – the 70^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our countries. I am pleased to note that Russian-Chinese relations have reached an unprecedentedly high level. This is a truly comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction.

Mr Xi Jinping and I maintain close contact. We regularly exchange visits, talk on the sidelines of international events and pay close attention to Russian-Chinese cooperation in the political, economic, humanitarian and other spheres.

In the course of the talks that just ended, we discussed the current state of and prospects for bilateral cooperation in a business-like and constructive manner and reviewed, in substance, important international issues while paying close attention to Russia-China cooperation in areas that are truly important for both countries. During our discussion and while speaking with our colleagues at the table, I noted that specific and comprehensive work was underway in each area, in addition to the interaction mechanisms that we now have in place.

As a result, as we all saw, we signed an impressive package of documents, notably, the Joint Statement on Developing Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Interaction Entering a New Era, which sets new ambitious goals and long-term benchmarks for cooperation.

Naturally, we discussed issues of economic cooperation in detail. China firmly holds the position of Russia's leading foreign trade partner. Last year trade went up by a quarter to reach a record $108 billion. Tangible success was achieved in investment. About 30 investment projects worth a total of $22 billion are underway with our Chinese partners and Chinese capital. A substantial part of these funds is being invested in projects in the Russian Far East ($3.5 billion).

Russia and China intend to develop the practice of conducting financial transactions in our national currencies. We have just signed an intergovernmental agreement to further expand the use of the ruble and the yuan in bilateral trade to ensure the failsafe bank servicing of transactions in conditions of instability on global markets.

Our energy cooperation is making good progress. Russia leads in oil distribution to China: last year 67 million tonnes of raw materials were sent to China. A gas pipeline to the PRC along the so-called eastern route will enter service in December. Talks are underway on potential fuel exports westwards and also from the Russian Far East.

Cooperation on the production and sale of LNG is being increased. The third stage of the Yamal LNG plant opened in November, one year ahead of schedule. A sizeable share in this plant – almost 30 percent (29.9 percent) belongs to China. We welcome cooperation on another large project – Arctic LNG 2.

The breakthrough agreements on peaceful nuclear energy development reached during our visit to China last year are being carried out. A general contract to build the third and fourth units of the Xudabao Nuclear Power Plant has been signed. The construction of a demonstration fast-neutron reactor is getting started in China with participation of Rosatom.

We focus a lot on strengthening bilateral cooperation in the manufacturing industry. The opening of a plant operated by China's leading automaker, Great Wall Motors, is timed to coincide with President Xi's visit. This plant will use advanced technology to make 80,000 vehicles annually, and local content will reach about 70 percent. Today, the President and I will see the products that will be made at the new plant.

Our plans include projects in aircraft and helicopter manufacturing, space exploration, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and other knowledge-intensive industries. We agreed to hold years of Russian-Chinese scientific, technical and innovation cooperation in 2020 and 2021.

We have good prospects for agro-industrial production. The possibility of creating a Russian-Chinese agricultural holding company in the Primorye Territory with an investment of 10 billion rubles is being discussed. Russia and China are planning to jointly develop international transport corridors. To do so, plans are in place to more actively use the potential of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Baikal-Amur Mainline, as well as the Northern Sea Route.

The shared border infrastructure is expanding. The construction of a new bridge and a road bridge over the Amur River is nearing completion. We attach particular importance to strengthening direct ties between Russia's regions and China's provinces. The years of interregional cooperation are enjoying success. The Volga-Yangtze Council has been working effectively for quite a while now with the participation of the Volga Federal District and the provinces of the upper and middle Yangtze.

Today, the President of the People's Republic of China and I agreed on establishing two more interregional cooperation mechanisms between Russia's Central Federal District and North China, as well as between our Northwestern Federal District and the maritime provinces of Southeast China.

This people-to-people cooperation covers many areas. Cultural and cinema festivals, education, youth, and sports exchanges, as well as reciprocal tourism are actively developing in Russia and China as part of a three-year programme for cooperation. Last year, China saw about 2.2 million Russian tourists. In turn, over 1.7 million Chinese tourists visited our country. I just shared with my friend, President Xi, a story where I was moving from one building within the Moscow Kremlin to another and realised that most of the tourists on the square were from China. We can go out and wave to them.

I would like to thank Mr Xi and all our Chinese colleagues for transferring two giant pandas to the Moscow Zoo. We know that China almost never does this. This is a sign of special respect and trust with regard to Russia and our specialists. Whenever we talk about pandas, we smile. We accept this gift with great respect and gratitude. Thank you very much. These animals are a national symbol of China, and we highly appreciate this gesture of friendship. By the way, a little later, the President of the People's Republic of China and I will go to the Moscow zoo and marvel at these wonderful animals.

During the discussion of topical international and regional issues, the sides stated that their views are identical or very close on most matters. The joint statement on strengthening global strategic stability we signed emphasises the principled stand of Russia and China that any attempts to destroy the existing system of agreements on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation are unacceptable.

I would like to stress that our countries share identical assessments of the situation around the Korean Peninsula and carry out a joint roadmap for settlement. We proceed from the premise that there is no, nor can there be, any alternative to the peaceful, political and diplomatic settlement of the region's problems, including the nuclear issue.

We will continue cooperation with our Chinese partners to reduce tensions on the peninsula and enhance security in Northeast Asia as a whole. Russia and China are working for the peaceful settlement of the crisis in Syria, favour stabilisation in Venezuela, and remain committed to the full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's nuclear programme.

During the talks, the sides reaffirmed their intention to continue building up bilateral cooperation within the framework of the UN, the SCO, BRICS, the G20, APEC and other leading multilateral venues.

We will continue our efforts to link the EAEU integration processes with the Chinese Silk Road Economic Belt Initiative with a view to forming greater Eurasian partnership in the future.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to use this opportunity to thank once again Mr Xi Jinping and all our Chinese colleagues for productive joint work and to express confidence that the agreements reached during the visit will facilitate the further strengthening of Russia-China friendship and the prosperity of our nations.

The programme of the President of China's visit continues. Today, we will make speeches at the gala evening devoted to the 70^th anniversary of diplomatic relations at the Bolshoi Theatre.

As a guest of honour, the Chinese leader will take part in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. He will head a solid delegation – about a thousand government officials and businessmen. We will also talk to the heads of major companies of the two countries that will hold the second Russia-China Energy Business Forum. And – I am pleased to say this in the presence of the rector of St Petersburg State University – there will be a ceremony to present President Xi Jinping with the honorary doctorate of the university.

Thank you for your attention.

President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping (retranslated): Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, friends, good afternoon,

I am happy to see you together with my old friend President Putin. This is my first state visit to Russia during my second term as the head of the Chinese state. This is also my eighth visit to Russia since 2013. President Putin and I have established close working relations and a strong friendship.

We have met almost 30 times in the last six years. Russia is the most frequently visited foreign country for me and President Putin is one of my closest friends and a great colleague. This is the best reflection of the high level of bilateral relations and close strategic cooperation between China and Russia.

President Putin and I have just held very productive talks in an open and friendly atmosphere. We thoroughly discussed our bilateral relations and also items on the international and regional agendas that are of mutual interest. We have reached important mutual understanding in several areas. We have also signed and published two important joint statements. The relevant agencies and companies have exchanged the signed documents in our presence.

President Putin has just summed up our talks and I fully agree with him. Together we reviewed the development of our diplomatic relations for the last 70 years. All of us believe that as a result of the developments in the last 70 years, Chinese-Russian relations have reached an unprecedentedly high level. We now see new opportunities. So we decided that we would take advantage of this historical experience in the spirit of neighbourliness, friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding, and that we would develop our comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation in this new era and raise our bilateral relations to a new and higher level.

Our countries will further consolidate mutual political trust, build mutual support and assistance in issues that concern our key interests in the spirit of novation, cooperation for the sake of mutual advantage, and promote our relations in the new era for the benefit of our two nations and the peoples of the world.

We note with satisfaction that due to our joint efforts in all areas, our cooperation continues to develop dynamically and successfully. Bilateral trade has also hit a historical high, exceeding our goal of $100 billion. We continue to increase the level and quality of cooperation. We successfully implement large strategic projects in energy, investment, aerospace, aviation and so on.

Region-to-region cooperation in areas like finance, agriculture and e-commerce has great potential. The parties have already decided to hold cross years of cooperation in research, technology and innovation in 2020–2021 in order to further expand and extend this cooperation, improve exchanges and the joint training of research and technical personnel, increase the integrated power and the research and technical level of our countries.

President Putin and I agreed to continue our work on integrating the Belt and Road Initiative with the EAEU. We will support each other in the Belt and Road Initiative and the Greater Eurasia partnership. We will join efforts to promote regional integration and integration economic development in the region.

We are pleased to note that the people-to-people aspect of our relations is following an ascending curve, and our exchanges are expanding across all areas. The years of interregional cooperation were a success, and traditional friendship between our peoples never stops shining with new light.

On the occasion of the 70^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, we gave two pandas to Russia for joint research. A little later, President Putin and I will attend an opening ceremony for the panda pavilion at the Moscow Zoo and will meet the two envoys of Chinese-Russian friendship.

The international situation is undergoing profound changes not seen in the past century. Peace and development remain the spirit of the times. However, protectionism and one-sided approaches are increasing, and the policy of force and hegemonism is intensifying. We have a long and difficult path to go before we arrive at peace and development.

As leading world powers and permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia will, in conjunction with the international community, show a sense of duty and resolutely protect the international system, under UN auspices, based on international law, and actively promote political settlements in the hotbeds of tension; we will protect the multilateral trade system, impart positive energy to an extremely difficult international situation, and make new contributions to building a common destiny for all of humankind.

Tonight, President Putin and I will attend celebrations dedicated to the 70^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. I will also visit St Petersburg to participate in the 23^rd St Petersburg International Economic Forum. President Putin and I will continue to hold bilateral meetings and will enrich the content of bilateral relations in a new era.

Thank you.

Russia
Source: tass.com

— President Xi, you are going to pay a state visit to Russia and attend the 23rd St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. This year marks the 70th anniversary of China-Russia diplomatic relations. You and President Putin have often noted that the relationship is at its best in history. Could you give an overall assessment of the current state of our relations?

— At the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, I will soon pay a state visit to Russia and attend the 23rd St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. After I was elected President of the People's Republic of China six years ago, I chose Russia as the first stop of my first overseas trip. During that visit, President Putin and I jointly opened a new chapter of China-Russia relations. Over the past six years, I have paid seven visits to Russia. Every time I was there, I witnessed the deepening of friendship between our two peoples and the productive outcomes of our cooperation. As China and Russia greet the historic moment of the 70th anniversary of our diplomatic relations, I am glad to pay another visit to your vast and beautiful country with great expectations for a brighter future of our bilateral ties.

Indeed, after seven decades of development, China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination is now at its best in history. Our two countries enjoy strong political trust and can always count on each other's firm support on issues concerning our respective core interests and major concerns. Guided and underpinned by full-fledged mechanisms of high-level visits and broad-based cooperation, our two sides have conducted substantive, wide-ranging and all-dimensional cooperation of strategic significance. The long-term development of China-Russia relations is blessed by the strong support of our people, who forged a profound friendship as comrades-in-arms in our great, heroic fight against Fascist aggression. Our two sides have also enjoyed close and effective coordination and collaboration in international affairs, thus contributing tremendous positive energy to a complex and fast-changing world.

Today, China-Russia relations are standing at a new starting point and facing new opportunities for growth. Building on our two countries' shared aspirations for development and revitalization and responding to our two peoples' shared desire for lasting friendship, we have the confidence and capability to bring our relations to a new era of greater development at a higher level, based on our experience and achievements of the past 70 years.

Our two countries need to stick together as good neighbors and render each other even stronger support. We need to work closely to seek greater synergy between our development strategies, deeper convergence of our development interests, and closer people-to-people ties. We need to find new areas of cooperation with innovative efforts as called for by the times so that our bilateral relations will always be forward-looking, break new ground, and brim with vigor and vitality. We need to play a more constructive role in international affairs with a great sense of mission and a strong commitment to win-win results, thus jointly promoting peace, stability, development and prosperity for all people of the world.

In my upcoming visit, I look forward to charting the course of our future relationship together with President Putin and to seeing that our comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination will stride into a new era.

— China is Russia's biggest trading partner. What is the expectation for the bilateral trade volume this year? What are the most promising projects in economic cooperation and trade? What measures will China take to strengthen sub-national economic ties? How do you view the problems in bilateral business cooperation?

— Economic cooperation and trade, as a key pillar of our relations, is crucial to the common development and revitalization of China and Russia. Such cooperation has been deepening in recent years, producing fruitful outcomes and setting a prime example of mutually beneficial economic engagement. Our bilateral trade reached a record US$100 billion in 2018. These notable results of our business cooperation are especially valuable given the current complex environment of sluggish global trade and investment and surging protectionism in the world. The government departments of our two countries are taking proactive efforts to bring our trade volume to a higher level and promote high-quality development of bilateral trade.


Our two countries are steadily implementing major cooperation projects in energy, transportation, agriculture, aviation, space and other fields. The crude oil pipeline and its parallel pipeline are operating smoothly. The eastern route of the natural gas pipeline is nearing completion. The Chinese and Russian sections of the Blagoveshchensk-Heihe Highway Bridge and the Nizhneleninskoye-Tongjiang Railway Bridge have been successfully joined. Steady progress is being made in our joint research and development (R&D) of long-range, wide-body passenger aircraft and heavy-lift helicopter. Cooperation on our satellite navigation systems is highly productive. These are concrete examples to show that, through our joint efforts, our economic cooperation has entered a phase of fast development and great promise.

At the sub-national level, various regions in our two countries have seized the opportunity of the "2018-2019 year of sub-national cooperation and exchange" and harnessed various mechanisms for more frequent interactions and greater economic, trade and investment cooperation, which include the China International Import Expo and other business cooperation platforms, and the Northeast China-Russian Far East and the Yangtze River-Volga River cooperation mechanisms. The two sides have signed a Plan on Cooperation and Development in the Russian Far East Region (2018-2024) and a Development Plan for Agriculture in Northeast China and the Russian Far East and Baikal Regions. Constant updates are being made to the list of key investment projects under the Yangtze River-Volga River mechanism. All these are effective platforms for the two sides to leverage our comparative industrial strengths and deepen sub-national cooperation.

Of course, our bilateral business ties are not free from specific issues. But it is worth pointing out that they are the natural result of our deepening cooperation and growing shared interests. The most effective way to address them is to take an innovative and multi-pronged approach to expand cooperation areas and unlock the full potential of our practical cooperation, such as scaling up mutual investment, widening market access, facilitating trade and investment activities, and boosting cooperation in agricultural trade, e-commerce and trade in services. By enlarging common interests, we can upgrade our business cooperation so that it will improve in both quality and quantity.

— Could you share some insights on China's economic outlook?

— The Chinese economy has achieved tremendous growth since the founding of New China 70 years ago, and especially since the start of reform and opening-up 40 years ago. China is now the world's second largest economy, the largest manufacturer, the largest trader in goods, and holder of the largest foreign exchange reserves. In 2018, the Chinese economy passed the RMB90 trillion yuan mark and per capita GDP was close to US$10,000. Our 6.6 percent economic growth rate, one of the highest in the world, meant that China accounted for around 30 percent of global growth last year.

In spite of a slowdown in global growth and trade, the Chinese economy has had a strong start this year with key economic indicators kept in a proper range. In the first quarter, our GDP grew by 6.4 percent, sustaining its momentum of steady growth in recent years and representing the 14th consecutive quarter of staying in the 6.4 percent to 6.8 percent range. Domestic consumption remained the main driver of growth. Employment continued to expand, with 4.59 million urban jobs added in the first four months of 2019. Personal income grew faster than the economy. Prices were generally stable, with consumer prices posting a modest growth of 2 percent. Total imports and exports were up by 4.3 percent year-on-year, and China's foreign exchange reserves stayed above US$3 trillion. Apart from all this, we were able to improve the economic structure, transform the model of development and enhance the quality and efficiency of economic performance, thus strengthening the momentum of steady and robust growth.

The trajectory of our economy toward more steady growth has not changed and will remain so in the long run. Looking ahead, a number of factors will support the steady, healthy and sustainable growth of the economy. These include:

• First, China's large pool of human resources. China has a population of nearly 1.4 billion, a 900-million-strong workforce, a talent pool of 170 million college graduates and people with professional skills, the world's largest middle-income population, and more than 100 million market entities.
• Second, China's strong internal driving forces. The Chinese economy is mainly driven by domestic consumption. In 2018, domestic consumption contributed 108.6 percent of economic growth; in particular, the contribution of final consumption was as high as 76.2 percent.
• Third, China's growing economic dynamism. China's R&D spending ranks second in the world, accounting for around 2.18 percent of its GDP. Emerging strategic industries, the sharing economy and other new economic forces are seeing continuous expansion.
• Fourth, China's mobilization capability. We have in China the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the political advantage that comes from being able to mobilize resources for major undertakings, the spirit of a nation united as one, the solid material and technological foundation built through decades of rapid development in the era of reform and opening-up, the enormous resilience, potential and flexibility in development, and the rich experience in macro-regulation as well as ample policy space. We therefore have all the necessary conditions as well as the capability and confidence to deal with any risks and challenges.

— President Xi, you successfully hosted the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in April. How do you see the future of connecting the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)? What is your take on the potential of the Arctic shipping routes and its significance for advancing Belt and Road cooperation? In what way will China participate in infrastructure development for the Arctic shipping routes?

— The BRI put forth by China aims to deepen practical cooperation focusing on connectivity, jointly address risks and challenges facing humanity, and bring about mutual benefit and common development. The second BRF held in Beijing last April was a great success. The participants had in-depth discussions on relevant topics and reached broad-based consensus on promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation supported by refined principles, clearer priorities and stronger mechanisms. We are highly appreciative that President Putin has attended both of the two BRFs held in 2017 and this year at my invitation.

The BRI and the EAEU are both committed to facilitating the development and rejuvenation of the participating countries and regions and to promoting open and inclusive cooperation in our region. China and Russia have shared interests in many areas of cooperation. In May 2015, President Putin and I signed a Joint Statement on Cooperation on Joint Silk Road Economic Belt and Eurasian Economic Union Projects, kicking off the process to connect the two initiatives. Last year, China signed an agreement on economic and trade cooperation with the EAEU. It was a significant first step and an important "early harvest" in connecting the two initiatives that provides the institutional underpinning for stronger economic cooperation and trade between the two sides. China will work with Russia to foster stronger synergy between the two initiatives in the spirit of mutual support, advance negotiations on an Eurasian economic partnership agreement, enhance facilitation of regional trade and investment, and make a still greater contribution to the development and rejuvenation of our two countries and the prosperity and stability of our region.

Development and use of the Arctic shipping routes will provide new opportunities, a new platform and new impetus for synergizing the BRI and the EAEU. It is also conducive to better connectivity and mutually beneficial cooperation among China, Russia and other relevant parties. Security and environmental protection are crucial in developing these routes. We encourage Chinese companies to take an active part and make practical contributions to the commercial operation of the Arctic shipping routes and local economic and social development. At the same time, environmental standards must be met and sustainability ensured in the development and use of the Arctic shipping routes. We hope there will be win-win results for all involved — a plus for both China-Russia cooperation and world economic growth.

— How do you see China-Russia cooperation within the frameworks of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the development prospects of the two?

— Over the last 10-plus years, BRICS countries have followed the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, deepened exchanges and cooperation in economic and financial, political and security, and cultural and people-to-people fields, making BRICS an important force that plays an active, stabilizing and constructive role in international affairs. It has been proven that BRICS represents the right direction of global development, as evidenced by its ever-widening cooperation and promising future.

Russia is the birthplace of the BRICS Summit. It was in Yekaterinburg that BRICS leaders held their first meeting in 2009, opening a historic chapter in BRICS cooperation. The adoption of the BRICS Economic Partnership Strategy at the 2015 Ufa Summit was another milestone in BRICS economic cooperation.

Coming from different continents, BRICS countries are brought together by a shared aspiration to grow our economies, deliver better lives for our peoples, and play a bigger role in regional and international affairs.

The world today is undergoing major changes rarely seen in a century. This means both opportunities and challenges for the development of BRICS countries. Such a backdrop makes it all the more important for our five countries to stay united in the spirit of equality and mutual assistance, and deepen the BRICS strategic partnership to defend the common interests and development space of emerging markets and developing countries and achieve development and progress for all. We BRICS leaders will meet again in Brasilia in November. I hope and believe that our five countries will work together for a fruitful Summit, and take further, solid steps toward our vision of the second Golden Decade.

China and Russia are comprehensive strategic partners of coordination, and important members of BRICS. Our two countries have had close communication and coordination within the BRICS framework. As Russia will take over the BRICS chairmanship next year, China looks forward to strengthening coordination with Russia to make sure that with the sustained efforts of successive chairmanships, BRICS cooperation will yield still greater results to deliver more benefits to the people of our five countries and contribute more to world peace and development.

The SCO is a successful example of the commitment of both China and Russia to forging a new type of international relations and a good platform for such efforts. In the 18 years since the SCO's inception, China and Russia have maintained close coordination and collaboration. As a result, the Organization has kept growing and made important contribution to peace, stability, development and prosperity in our region. As I see it, China-Russia cooperation in the SCO has the following features:

First, we have stayed committed to the Shanghai Spirit.The Shanghai Spirit of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations, and pursuit of common development is the underlying philosophy of the SCO. China and Russia, together with other SCO member states, have firmly rejected such anachronistic ideas as clash of civilizations, Cold War mentality, and zero-sum game. Instead, we have forged a constructive partnership featuring non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party, and set up a paradigm of a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness and justice, and win-win cooperation.

Second, we have stayed committed to advancing the security and development interests of SCO member states.Stability and development are the common pursuit of countries in our region. China and Russia have worked with other member states to deepen all-round cooperation in political, security, economic and cultural fields, make effective responses to new security threats and challenges, and seek greater complementarity between the BRI, the EAEU and other regional cooperation initiatives, and the development strategies of individual countries in pursuit of integrated development of our region. All these efforts have made the SCO irreplaceable for the lasting peace and stability of the whole region and the development and prosperity of individual countries.

Third, we have stayed committed to raising the global profile of the SCO.Our Organization is an important and constructive force in Eurasia. China and Russia, together with other member states, have engaged extensively in regional and international affairs, upheld international fairness and justice, supported the building of an open world economy, and promoted a fairer and more equitable international order.

The SCO, responsive to the call of our times for peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, enjoys strong vitality and a bright prospect. At last year's Qingdao Summit, we together drew up a blueprint for a new phase in the SCO development. The upcoming Bishkek Summit will therefore become a new starting point in the development of the Organization. China will work with Russia and other member states to enhance unity, mutual trust and cooperation in various areas so that our Organization will keep developing to add more stability and positive energy to the world and make unique contribution to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

— How would you describe your personal friendship with President Putin?

— Since 2013, President Putin and I have met nearly 30 times on bilateral and multilateral occasions, and talked on the phone and written to each other many times. I keep fond memories of each interaction I had with President Putin. We have had in-depth and most wide-ranging exchanges on both major issues like the international situation, bilateral ties and governance, and more light-hearted topics like literature, art and sports. We have taken a high-speed train ride together, watched an ice hockey friendly between Chinese and Russian youth teams, celebrated his birthday in Bali, exchanged phone calls and congratulatory messages on each other's important festivals, and been awarded medals of the highest honor by each other's countries.

I have had closer interactions with President Putin than with any other foreign colleagues. He is my best and bosom friend. I cherish dearly our deep friendship.

My engagement with President Putin is built on a high degree of mutual trust. That is the solid foundation of our close friendship. We treat each other with respect, candor, understanding and trust. We share similar views on the international landscape and approaches to national governance, and we both shoulder historical responsibilities for national development and rejuvenation.

Most importantly, we share a high degree of consensus on the strategic significance of the China-Russia relationship and therefore the same resolve and desire to deepen and sustain its growth. I look forward to continued close interactions with President Putin. Together, we will take our bilateral ties to new heights and work tirelessly for the development and prosperity of our two great nations and for the happy lives of our peoples.

— The situation in Syria is stabilizing. The Syrian government has repeated on many occasions that it is ready to work with all relevant parties and restore its war-ravaged infrastructure as soon as possible. Does China intend to take part in Syria's reconstruction? In Venezuela, the situation has flared up lately. What is China's assessment? In addition, the deepening political confrontation between the US and Iran is leading to rising tensions in the Persian Gulf. How does China see the prospects for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue?

— Syria is a time-honored civilization and an important country in the Middle East. It is heart-wrenching for us to see Syria caught in protracted turbulence that has wreaked havoc on its infrastructure and inflicted untold sufferings to its people. Fortunately, the situation there is improving, as the process of political settlement is making progress and the Syrian government and people are starting to rebuild their nation. The Chinese and Syrian people have long enjoyed a traditional friendship. As such, China stands ready to take part in Syria's reconstruction to the best of its capacity and help the Syrian people regain their normal life and work at an early day.

On Venezuela, China's position is consistent and clear. Bearing in mind the importance of upholding the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, China maintains that the issue should be left to the government and opposition of Venezuela to resolve through inclusive political dialogue and independent consultation within the constitutional framework. China opposes external intervention, unilateral sanctions, and the use or threat of force. China will work with the rest of the international community to play a positive and constructive role on this issue, do more to facilitate talks for peace, and uphold international equity and justice, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and regional peace and stability to help Venezuela return to the track of normal development as soon as possible.

With the US imposing maximum pressure and unilateral sanctions on Iran in recent months, tensions have been escalating surrounding the Iranian nuclear issue, and for that matter, in the entire Middle East. Such developments are indeed a cause for concern. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the embodiment of multilateralism, is crucial for the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and for peace and stability in the Middle East. It must be respected and implemented effectively in its entirety. China and Russia have highly aligned views and positions on the Iranian nuclear issue with both countries calling on all relevant parties to act with reason and restraint and increase dialogue and consultation to deescalate the tensions. China and Russia will stay in close coordination to push for positive developments while upholding the authority of the UN, peace and security in the world, and the common interests of the international community. Besides, China will continue to stand firm for its own legitimate rights and interests in this process.

Russia
Source: en.kremlin.ru

The message reads, in part:

"Your major forum fully reflects the aspirations of young people from various countries to develop professional and personal contacts, and their readiness to work together in a businesslike manner. The festival programme features a whole range of substantial, interesting events that, I am sure, you will enjoy and that will be useful to you. An important component is meetings with prominent politicians, public figures, journalists, as well as participation in educational and creative projects. But the most important thing is that you will have so many wonderful opportunities to interact with your peers of various nationalities, traditions and cultures. You will also be able to experience the genuine friendliness and hospitality of Stavropol Territory residents.

I am confident that your festival will contribute to the development of international people-to-people interaction, as well as to the strengthening of friendship and harmony between people. It will help further improve the constructive partnerships within BRICS and the SCO."

Russia
Author: Georgy Toloraya
Source: www.nkibrics.ru

Georgy Toloraya, Executive Director of the National Committee on BRICS Research – exclusively for InfoBRICS

As preparations for Russia's BRICS chairmanship that started in the spring of 2019, are in full swing, the process of grasping the phenomenon is underway globally and in the Russian politics.

When working out the chairmanship highlights, one should bear in mind that initially BRICS was meant primarily as a political project, a project of political elites of non-Western countries aimed at raising their caliber on the international arena and fortify the positions in global management of both political and economic processes.

Does the project still stay in line with its original objective?

Indeed, we are witnessing a gradual increase of the role of caliber and strengthening of BRICS states' position in global management. Though separately, not together. Probably our countries have not yet prepared, not yet become mature enough for assuming a collective responsibility for the processes that the humanity is undergoing. Moreover, certain subjective and short-term factors also play a role here. The political elites of BRICS countries hardly exist in outer space, they depend to different extents on known global management institutions, on the hegemony of the modern world order, both objectively in the politics and economy, and subjectively, frequently at the level of interests of certain individuals.

Escalating inconsistencies of national strategies of member-states have joined the list of negative factors of global environment complicating rapprochement within BRICS over the past couple of years as well. That concerns China's relations with other countries in the first place.

It feels like China, which initially, by President Putin's behest, considered BRICS as one of major projects for bolstering its global influence, and as a platform for consolidating non-Western developing nations that it ranks with, has disengaged from that format in a way over recent years, particularly as the most important instrument for reaching that goal. Beijing has focused on its Belt and Road project, which slightly shaded BRICS. For example, symptomatic was the fact that China focused on the establishment of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank instead of New Development Bank BRICS, which was being created specifically at that same time, which signaled somehow that China is not estranging itself from BRICS, of course, but does not view it as a priority task in its long-term geopolitical strategy either. The recent Belt and Road Forum in Beijing has emphasized the significance of the project not only for China, but also for Russia, compared with SCO and BRICS/RIC, let us say.

The frictions between China and India, which have recently come to the fore, made the prospects of particularly political development of BRICS even more ominous. It became clear that the tensions between the two countries are not simply of short-lived (such as another escalation of the boundary dispute), but deep-rooted systemic nature. There is definitely inconsistency of national geopolitical strategies. Anyway, for India counteracting China is becoming one of the key tasks of the development of its foreign policy – notably of the ruling class in general, not only the present government, and for a long period. The fact that India has signed off on an Indo-Pacific concept, anti-China in its essence, at the US' instigation, though promoting its own version, has been yet another indication of that.

Currently there are animosities between China and Brazil as well due to a new international political focus of Brazil and the ongoing domestic policy processes in the country. South Africans are also watchful of China's expansion over the African continent. Finally, I dare say that the Russian-Chinese relationship has come to its peak as well. Following the peak, the movement is either flat or downward.

All that makes one wonder what BRICS's mission is under those circumstances? Since it is not really ready to undertake the geopolitical mission, meaning the creation of a new political system of global management yet.

BRICS started as a phenomenon related to economic issues, to overcoming the 2007-2008 crisis. Is it safe to say that it is back on the 'economic rails' now, at a new twist of development as well, to focus particularly on the problem of development and cooperation?

If so, we have to adjust to that reality. Without forestalling events, it seems that the tone of BRICS Summit in Russia will be more practically applied, economic, rather than globally political.

Of course, at the new twist of development, BRICS is not the one it was in its 'infancy' ten years ago. A multi-way and quite serious mechanism of cooperation within the integration has been created, which is an apparent achievement of the past years. We have reiterated the necessity of a formal institutionalization of BRICS, though a number of states feared its supra-national nature. Currently it is virtually happening 'bottom-up'. An array of dialogue mechanisms has been formed, joint projects are being implemented, though not always as efficiently as one would like to. But that chain of relationships and contracts between departments and specialists and engagement with collaboration among members in separate sectors and fields is already evident. Coupled with institutional projects, such as New Development Bank, Energy platform, possibly, a single payment system and other financial instruments, it makes it possible to state that BRICS has already laid the foundation for dealing with ambitious tasks.

The development and implementation of a certain new model of social and economic development catering to the needs of the epoch is among those big ambitious long-term tasks, the main one in our view, though abstract.

As of now, the fact that 'liberal capitalism' is becoming irrelevant has come into the spotlight even in America as the term 'progressive capitalism' has been minted. Capitalism, which does not envision such a notable income gap, social differences, negative environmental consequences of the development. Since even America has given though to it, it is necessary to decide particularly within BRICS, which social and economic development pattern BRICS can offer – both to countries belonging it and the 'circle of friends', as a sample and as a potential alternative to liberal capitalism, which in many aspects has clearly reached its limit.

In this view, it pays to delve into Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – arguably, many tasks related to what a model like that should address, have been formulated already. That implies that each separate BRICS nation should incorporate those sustainable development goals into own national strategies not verbally, but virtually. That said, each state should be guided by the priority of any goals, both from the viewpoint of the importance of resolving the problems in the field specifically for it, and from the viewpoint of demonstration of its strong points, gaining ground inside BRICS itself.

Countries cannot be ranked, as the west is attempting to do, by the degree of their "compliance with the standard" of SDGs. Though the countries themselves can well rank particular goals from those objectives considering their national interests. How can BRICS states sort out priorities?

Speaking about Russia, in which fields can it try to demonstrate a kind of example to other BRICS nations, and is it equipped to deal with it? Is there enough political willpower and other goal-setting skills? It is necessary to draw a distinction between what Russia should lay political emphasis on within BRICS, what should be prioritized, and what should resources, energy and the potential of joint engagement be spent on. And before the chairmanship starts, that should be resolved, at least in the scientific-theoretical way.

Russia
Source: www.mid.ru

Question: We are meeting in the run-up to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Over the past years, Russian businessmen have had to operate under strong sanctions pressure. However, some of them, Oleg Deripaska, for instance, managed to withdraw some of their companies from under the sanctions. Can our companies and businessmen count on the Foreign Ministry's assistance in opposing sanctions or would they be better off relying on themselves as did Deripaska by hiring foreign lobbyists?

Sergey Lavrov: You are right, the sanctions, which have become the hallmark of the US administration, a number of EU countries and other Western states – to which we were forced to respond and will continue to do so in such a way as not to do harm to ourselves – are clearly damaging everyone, including the US companies and companies from the European countries whose governments resort to these sanctions. But, despite the difficulties, companies are working and trying to find opportunities that are not blocked by illegal actions of their governments.

The SPIEF traditionally brings together thousands of business people from Western countries. By the way, the US delegation with more than 500 business people is the largest one for the second year in a row (government representatives chose not to participate this year). The entrepreneurs are using direct contacts to identify, most effectively and professionally, the opportunities that are available in the current difficult circumstances.

We strive to help our companies in ways in which they request assistance from the Russian authorities. Mr Deripaska opted for the legal solution and went to court as part of the US legal system. He is using lawyers. These are absolutely legal methods and approaches. I'm not sure about the outcome. The US judicial system is known for its specifics.

As for this particular entrepreneur, this is his decision, his company. A huge army of employees works at his enterprises in Russia and the West, primarily, Europe. He has to take into account all these circumstances and stick to the policy he chose for himself based on the corporate interests and interests of RUSAL and other companies' employees.

There are Russian entrepreneurs who are interested in using legal methods at various judicial instances which will recognise the sanctions as illegal. There are those who are willing to strike a deal with the US justice system.

We are not alone here. This practice was used long before the relations between Russia and the United States deteriorated under President Obama. BNP Paribas was fined $12 billion for trading with Iran without violating any laws of its country or international rules. It's just that the Americans deemed it wrong, since they had declared sanctions on Iran. They beat the price down from $12 billion to $9 billion. There are similar examples with regard to German businesses.

If we talk about this more comprehensively, it becomes clear that now that the US dollar is used in a vast share of global economic relations and financial settlements, the majority of non-US companies are forced to make compromises. They are not interested in losing a portion of their businesses overnight. The governments of their respective countries are forced to take this into account and try to negotiate with the Americans in order to create a political framework for resolving the current fleeting issues caused by the US economic aggression – let's call things by their proper names.

In the long run, the thinking process has already started with regard to how to get rid of the US dollar and create a system that will not be dependent on the whims of a particular US administration, or its behaviour in international economic relations, or turn into a tool of domestic political strife in the United States.

I see this as a beginning of a vast historical period. There are sanctions that are motivated and explained by Crimea, but they forget the fact that the vote in Crimea was absolutely free. This is no big secret, but in April 2014, former US Secretary of State John Kerry told me: "Everything is clear. Everything happened as the Crimean people wanted. But hold another referendum just for the sake of appearances." Why would anyone do that? If everything is clear to you, why make people vote again? I hope John won't mind I told you this. In his memoirs, he talks about some confidential aspects of our conversations.

The main reason behind the sanctions is, first, to punish Russia for its independent foreign policy. As President Putin said more than once, the US ruling class now understands that the 1990s were an anomaly, and the traditions of Russian civilisation, history, self-sufficiency, its multi-ethnic and multi-layered structure prevailed. The genetic code of our nation didn't go anywhere. Certain US politicians, including those who tied President Trump's hands, not allowing him to deliver on his campaign promises to normalise and improve relations with Russia, are still unable to accept this fact.

The second reason is unfair competition and an attempt to gain competitive advantages by using sanction pressure methods.

The third, more global, reason is the realisation of the irreversible nature of the processes leading to a polycentric world order, where many more than one or two states have strong influence on the global economy and politics. This realisation is not expressed in the desire to establish new forms of functioning of the world order with many, not just two poles or one pole. It manifests itself in an effort to slow down these processes, part of which is the sanction pressure. After all, sanctions are applied to China as well. If we classify increased tariffs as sanctions, I won't be able to name a single more or less important country on the planet that is not currently hit by the US sanctions.

Everyone understands this, but is trying to resolve immediate problems through some kind of compromise. I'm confident that the Americans are pursuing a policy that is at odds with their long-term interests.

Question: Let us go back to Russian business people. Did Oleg Deripaska consult you as to what he should do? Can other business people come to the Foreign Ministry and ask for help?

Sergey Lavrov: Why not ask them? I have said that we respond to any requests from Russian business people. Normally we extend this kind of support if we are in a position to offer the forms of assistance they ask for and if they are not at variance with Russian laws and the Foreign Ministry's functions.

Question: You have mentioned the US delegation at the SPIEF. Michael Calvey also wanted to be a delegation member. How many times in recent months have foreign partners mentioned his name at talks with you?

Sergey Lavrov: Secretary of State Pompeo spoke about this when we met on the sidelines of the Arctic Council in Rovaniemi on May 6, as he did in Sochi on May 14, when he had a meeting with President of Russia Vladimir Putin. He also touched upon this subject during our conversation. He received an answer to the effect that we were interested in preventing businesses being hit by unlawful actions. In this particular case, an investigation is under way and we hope that the investigators will establish the truth and a decision will be taken.

I have named the cases where this was mentioned. But I am not concealing the fact that our meetings with the Americans are extremely infrequent.

Question: You also had a meeting with a delegation of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce.

Sergey Lavrov: I had no chance to meet with them. As far as I know, they did not even ask for it.

Question: You said that it was necessary to "de-dollarise." Settlements in national currencies are one of the ways to evade sanctions. A Russian-Chinese agreement of this kind is being drafted. PRC President Xi Jinping will be the main guest at the SPIEF. What stood in the way of signing an agreement on settlements in national currencies? Was this linked to the position of China, which was more interested in promoting economic ties with the United States and fearing secondary sanctions?

Sergey Lavrov: I have not heard about any relevant intergovernmental agreement. There is not much need for it because the conversion to settlements in national currencies is well under way. The share of bilateral trade covered by the national currencies is around 18 per cent (about one-fifth). This is a lot, and this share is growing.

Just recently, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriyev said in an interview that cooperation was growing to establish investment platforms that would also be served by national currencies.

Apart from the fact that these processes help Russian-Chinese trade to be independent from situational factors introduced by the arbitrary behaviour of the United States, they are strengthening the yuan, which is already feeling at home in the world financial system. The rouble is being strengthened too.

While we are on the subject of national currencies, I must mention that these processes are underway in many areas other than the Russia-China bilateral channels. We are engaging in this with a number of other countries, particularly those from among our major partners, where mutual trade is more or less balanced and there is a demand for roubles and our partners' currencies. These processes are also underway within BRICS. These are the components of the common effort, which eventually will reduce the dependence on the dollar.

Question: Russia is often reproached for putting political interests above economic ones. The developments in Venezuela and Ukraine are used as examples. We supported the authorities in these countries, were closely linked to them in the economy and completely ignored the opposition, which called into question the implementation of different economic programmes, loan payments, etc. Isn't it time for Russia to give up the principle of ignoring domestic opposition so as to guarantee stability for itself in any outcome of political crises?

Sergey Lavrov: As for your statement that Russia puts politics above the economy, this is not quite accurate. We still remember the teaching of Karl Marx that is "omnipotent because it is true," that "life determines consciousness" and the like. We have never denied the fact that the economy is the foundation of our entire policy, national development and foreign ties. Note that when President of Russia Vladimir Putin starts communicating with his foreign partners in public or speaks at news conferences, he always emphasises trade growth rates, the amount of accumulated investment and other parameters of economic cooperation with our partners. This is an indicator of the importance that our leaders attach to the material aspects of cooperation.

It was our Western colleagues that created problems in Ukraine and, in effect, brought to power national radicals and neo-Nazis, whose first move was an attempt to ban the Russian language. The attempt fell through at the time, but this was a sign to Donbass and Crimea. This is when the whole thing started. After that they took offense because we supported Crimean residents and protected them from Dmitry Yarosh and other national radicals like him that threatened to remove Russians from Crimea and put an end to them forever on this land, because we backed people in Donbass that asked the coupists to leave them alone, let them live as they want and get their bearings. Donbass did not attack the rest of Ukraine. It was attacked by national radicals that are still singing the tune in Ukraine.

But when the EU introduced sanctions, German and other Western companies started saying that politics should not be confused with economics and that the economy is the backbone of development. At that point German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that in this case politics should prevail over the economy.

This is a true observation, but sometimes it happens that our partners, who should pay primary attention to basic things, following the logic and principles of the market economy, act against their own interests under the impact of ideology or misinterpreted principles.

Let me emphasise once again that after the coup in Ukraine, and in violation of the agreement that was guaranteed by Germany, France and Poland literally the day before, we started knocking on European doors, asking the European leaders to bring the opposition to reason, those that were under their control. They only shrugged.

I could talk at length on this topic but what the new authorities said about the Russians, Russian speakers in Ukraine, was outrageous. Our Western colleagues simply kept silent. I still believe that the blame for what is happening now in that country, which is close and fraternal for us, wholly rests with the Western patrons of the opposition. The United States took a direct part in the preparations for the coup. Judging by everything we saw, the Europeans sincerely tried to find a compromise between Viktor Yanukovich and the opposition. They found it and signed the agreement, but when the coup took place they did not use their power, their influence on Kiev.

At any rate, neither the French nor the Germans demonstrated any activity. In contrast, now they are very active, trying to make Russia responsible for the implementation of the Minsk agreements. This is simply dishonest and indecent. Regrettably, sometimes it happens in diplomacy that a client bred by someone becomes a burden, but it is still unbecoming to criticise him because it could damage your prestige. I hope very much that lessons will be learned.

Being a co-author of the Minsk agreements, in practice Petr Poroshenko subverted every letter and the entire spirit of this major document throughout his five-year rule.

How can anyone even assume that we put political interests above economic interests in Ukraine? This is not at all true. We are interested in Ukraine being an established state with a strong national economy, as they used to say. We enjoy very close economic ties. Our economies are intertwined. Our businesses are interested in working with Ukrainian businesses. This interest is mutual. We want bilateral trade to expand, so that our people can benefit from it. This is obvious. However, the authorities in Kiev are saying that they will "strangle" the Russians. They are not just saying it, but passing laws on education, on Ukrainian as the only state language. They repeal legislative acts that ensured the rights of Russian speakers and other ethnic minorities. By the way, these rights are enshrined in the Constitution. The West kept silent about the laws adopted by Poroshenko during his last "convulsion" before he left office. Like Barack Obama before President Trump, he decided to hurt his successor to the maximum. It's a set of laws, which, according to Poroshenko, are supposed to drive the new Kiev administration into a dead end and keep it there in anti-Russia captivity.

Someone may believe it's good thinking. I believe doing so in politics is mean-spirited. If protecting Russian-speaking people, Russian culture and the Russian language is part of politics, then we cannot abandon this policy just as the Europeans and Americans are unlikely to stop protecting the rights of their compatriots in danger. Moreover, we are talking about millions of our compatriots. They are citizens of Ukraine, but many of them are citizens of Russia. There will be more of them in the wake of the decision sealed in the presidential executive order. There is simply no other way to ensure their legitimate rights now that they are in the blockade declared by Mr Poroshenko.

As you are aware, we are not breaking any laws. The international covenants and international conventions, including the European Convention on Nationality, directly stipulate that, first, any state itself shall determine who can be its citizen. The Ukrainian experts who criticise this step by Russia are forgetting this. Second, there's the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that no one can be denied the right to change citizenship. By the way, our Hungarian colleagues recently said that President Zelensky, during the election campaign, called on all Ukrainians to return home from abroad and obtain Ukrainian citizenship. Budapest said they welcome this, because it means that Hungarians living in Ukraine can also obtain Hungarian citizenship. You see the analogy: both Romanians and Poles are issuing their passports. To reiterate, this is a policy designed to protect our compatriots, language, culture and a single economic and cultural space which has existed for centuries and which an aggressive minority is now trying to destroy.

The aggressive minority in Ukraine includes people who, in Kharkov, toppled a monument to Marshal Georgy Zhukov, a hero of the Great Patriotic War who liberated Ukraine. The Poroshenko regime tried to cater to the demands of this minority. This is an important point. At the same time, a monument to Roman Shukhevych was erected in Ivano-Frankovsk, which resulted in an official protest from the Israelis and the Poles.

What's the upshot? Monuments to Nazi minions are being built in western Ukraine, which was not part of Ukraine for a long time. Monuments to heroes of the Great Patriotic War are honoured in eastern Ukraine, which was also not part of Ukraine for a long time. I hope that the courageous mayor of Kharkov, Gennady Kernes, will restore the monument, as he promised, and will do his best to hold the perpetrators accountable. In the post-Soviet history of Ukraine, there have always been processes underway which brought to power people who sought to find a balance between western Ukraine and eastern Ukraine. That was before President Poroshenko who chose to preserve the unity of the country not through balance and a comprehensive approach that takes into account the interests, traditions, views and philosophy of all strata of Ukrainian society, but to unify the country based on the Right Sector and other volunteer battalions that profess national radical, and in some cases, neo-Nazi ideology. These people constitute a clear minority in Ukraine. However, over the past five years, they have dictated all the main policies to Poroshenko and called the shots.

This is an interesting parallel, by the way. Russophobes constitute a minority in the EU as well. However, speculating on the principle of solidarity and consensus, they have, until recently, been determining the policy of the European Union and NATO towards Russia. Now, respectable European countries have realised that this policy is counterproductive. They no longer want to play to the whims of the Russophobic minority. This was reflected in the decisions recently adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and more recently by the Parliamentary Assembly's working bodies. These decisions seek to end discrimination against Russian parliamentarians. If you think this is politics that can be sacrificed to economy, then I will disagree with you.

As for Venezuela, we have economic interests there as well. Not as big as China's interests, but big enough. Our companies – energy and others – are operating there. We have contracts in defence, under which we maintain the equipment and weapons, which have been supplied there since the early 2000s. Of course, we are interested in retaining these economic ties and in the Venezuelan leadership honouring its commitments to us in full.

Question: Are we establishing contacts with Venezuela's potential next leaders?

Sergey Lavrov: We respond positively to the requests for contacts that are made both by the opposition and the Americans. US Special Representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams met with my deputy, Sergey Ryabkov. Moreover, there are requests for contacts from the Lima Group and the International Contact Group on Venezuela (ICG). We liaise with the Montevideo Mechanism that includes Uruguay, Mexico, Bolivia, and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Earlier this week, I met with Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo, an activist of both the Lima Group and ICG. We inform the Venezuelan leaders of all these contacts. We have no hidden agenda. We desire just one thing: The opposition and the government should sit down to the negotiating table and look for a mutually acceptable solution.

According to some leaks, Norway is the country where contacts are taking place. We welcome this. We believe that this is a step in the right direction. We are not interfering with this confidential dialogue and hope that the Venezuelans themselves will display wisdom and themselves take care of their country.

As for your question about our work with the opposition, we are not evading it. As I said, we responded to several requests for contacts in Venezuela. The contacts did occur. During these conversations, we confirmed our position favouring inclusive national dialogue and expressed our disapproval of the fact that in response to the Montevideo Mechanism's call for starting this dialogue, one accepted by President Nicolas Maduro, Juan Guaido haughtily rejected it. It is clear that he is being manipulated by the US that has taken the bit between its teeth and wants to change the regime there at any cost and is even threatening with a military scenario. I don't think that this will happen because in this case they will torpedo their relations with plenty of Latin American countries, even those that are currently supporting their position on Venezuela. This will be the direct embodiment of what US National Security Advisor John Bolton said: The Monroe Doctrine is back and the Americans will abide by this doctrine.

Russia is working with the opposition, but only with the legal opposition. Venezuela's National Assembly is currently in a suspended state because a Constituent Assembly has been established in parallel. But they are legitimately elected MPs. Direct dialogue is the way to address their internal differences. In the CIS counties, Russian ambassadors hold meetings with parliamentary parties, their representatives, and various political movements, but we will never do this behind the back of the legitimate authorities. Never!

Question: You have dwelled on Venezuela at length. US President Donald Trump tweeted yesterday that Russia had notified him that it was withdrawing its people from Venezuela. Could you specify whom we have notified and who we are withdrawing?

Sergey Lavrov: It was a surprise for me to read this. We have notified no one. He seems to have read the Wall Street Journal article that was already commented on by both the Rostec State Corporation and our ministry. It mentioned some thousands of Russian specialists who had been pulled out of there.

We have never concealed that Russian experts are servicing the equipment that was supplied there under legitimate contracts many years ago. We named the figure – 95 experts – who visited Venezuela last time to perform scheduled maintenance required in line with our obligations under these contracts.

I cannot even imagine the origin of the information that we have "reported" to the Americans about the withdrawal of our specialists. But this makes me question the quality of advisors, who put reports on the US President's desk.

Question: Do you mean this was a fake?

Sergey Lavrov: It's obvious to me.

Question: Is there any new information about a possible meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka?

Sergey Lavrov: Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov and Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov have already commented on this.

Several days before US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Russia, President Trump publicly said that he would go to Osaka and meet with President Putin there. In Sochi, Secretary Pompeo confirmed President Trump's interest in holding such a meeting, to which we said that we are always willing to sit down and talk. We have repeatedly said that resuming a normal dialogue is in our interest. If the United States is making such a proposal, we will be willing to consider it, just tell us how, what, when and where. Having said that, we parted. So far, we haven't received any specific proposals. There's less and less time remaining, but, I think, if the United States officially confirms interest, we will not leave the favour unanswered.

Once again, we are willing to develop a dialogue with the United States on a mutually respectful and equal basis. We have a lot of subjects that we can discuss productively and work on together. First of all, there is strategic stability with a backlog of problems resulting from the rapid development of the global missile defence system by the United States, which covers the perimeter of our and Chinese borders. This is the demise of the INF Treaty in the wake of the US decision. These are the questions that arise in connection with the New START Treaty, which expires in February 2021. President Putin has said many times, including when Secretary Pompeo was in Sochi, that we need to decide on whether we are going to renew this treaty. If the United States is willing, we must deal with the details now, because we need to "clean it up"; if Washington does not want to renew it, then they should say so, as we cannot force them to do it.

Also, concerns are mounting with respect to deploying weapons in outer space. The Americans have already approved funding for building missile defence elements to be deployed in orbit. This is a qualitative leap in what is called the arms race.

This is also about the US decision to not ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). By the way, ratification was part of Barack Obama's campaign promises, as well as shutting down the Guantanamo prison in Cuba. None of that was done. But the fact that the Trump administration has revised the decision to move towards ratification and refused, in fact, to accede to this treaty, just heightens tensions in strategic stability and creates new problems for nuclear arms control.

We are willing to discuss these issues. We would like to discuss all of this with the United States. We will always respond to their suggestions to resume a dialogue. But we cannot force things on anyone. If they decide that it is not in their interest, it will be their decision. Then, the international community will know its heroes.

We clearly have a common interest when it comes to fighting terrorism. Our interests overlap here. Unless you use terrorists for political purposes, as was the case earlier. The US experiments in Afghanistan gave rise to al-Qaeda, and ISIS came from Iraq. Now, a version of al-Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra, has emerged in Syria, which continues to imitate its predecessors. We need to discuss this.

Despite our differences, we are talking about Venezuela and Ukraine. We are having a productive dialogue on some aspects of a Syrian settlement and the Korean Peninsula. There's an informal trilateral Russian-Chinese-American group on Afghanistan. We are always ready.

Question: One more meeting occupies the minds of observers. Is it possible for President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky to meet, and on what conditions?

Sergey Lavrov: At this point we don't even know what policy the new Ukrainian leaders will pursue as regards the Minsk agreements and Russia in general. We have seen only somewhat vague signals, for instance, on whether they should hold a referendum on resuming talks with Russia. I didn't even understand what talks they were referring to. Talks on Donbass were held in the framework of the Contact Group and the Normandy format. These are not talks with Russia. President Vladimir Zelensky confirmed a willingness to take part in the Normandy format talks. This has already been noted but it is unclear from what position and on what basis the Normandy Four would continue; starting from scratch won't work.

In the past four years, the four leaders have reached very specific agreements in the Normandy format on the disengagement of forces and weapons in the three specific pilot areas along the contact line and on the registration of the procedure for enforcing the law on the special status of Donbass, plus the holding of elections in this territory. Both were the subject of specific agreements by these leaders. They issued instructions on recording these agreements on paper. This has not been done up to now. So, before another meeting in the Normandy format can take place, it is necessary at least to show respect for this forum and complete the legal formalities on what was agreed to before.

In addition, we hear statements about new ideas for settling the crisis. Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma received an invitation to head the Ukrainian delegation in the Contact Group in order to continue the talks with Donetsk and Lugansk with the participation of Russia and the OSCE. He said at a news conference that it would be necessary to give new life to the negotiating process and that Ukraine must fulfil a number of provisions of the Minsk agreements on the legislative level. I welcome this because in the past the representatives of the former regime declared that they had already fulfilled everything. We will have to see how all this will develop.

Let me repeat that it is important for us to understand how these promises of new approaches and ideas will be embodied in specific proposals. President Vladimir Zelensky mentioned an exchange of detainees. I think this is a promising move. We have always favoured strict observance of the requirements set out in the Minsk agreements on an exchange of all for all. A large exchange took place in December 2017. It was prepared by Viktor Medvedchuk. Regrettably, when the people arrived at the exchange point based on the negotiated lists, the Ukrainian representatives had removed about 30 people from their lists without explanation. This was yet another manifestation of the former regime's inability to negotiate. I hope the proper conclusions will be drawn from that episode. Of course, it is necessary to fulfil these agreements and the UN Security Council resolution that unanimously endorsed them.

Question: Suppose there is some roadmap – the first, second and third moves by the Zelensky team. What can we expect from it? An exchange of prisoners? A law on the special status of Donbass?

Sergey Lavrov: There are the Normandy Format agreements that I mentioned. Our German and French colleagues confirmed that these agreements are an indispensable condition for moving ahead. So let's formalise them before new Normandy summits are prepared.

Question: Have you noticed any difference in style between Petr Poroshenko and Vladimir Zelensky?

Sergey Lavrov: I prefer not to comment on personal aspects like this. We are not stylists or make-up designers. We want to understand the specific approaches of our partners, whether they are Ukrainian or anyone else, with respect to relations with Russia.

Question: So there were no requests from the Zelensky team to talk with someone from the Foreign Ministry of Russia?

Sergey Lavrov: I have talked about everything that is taking place.

Question: Russia and Belarus have been engaged in discussions since last year on deeper integration within the Treaty on the Creation of the Union State. However, no details have been available so far. Neither Russian nor Belarusian integration proposals have been made public. Which of the treaty's provisions exactly does Moscow consider necessary to implement at the current stage?

Sergey Lavrov: The treaty states everything clearly, you can read it. In fact, the presidents of Russia and Belarus met in December. Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko agreed to set up a task force to review the treaty in its entirety in order to see which provisions need to be addressed after 20 years. The task force has been set up and it is doing this work at present. They have not been working for too long. It is a complicated issue as it concerns the economy, finance, taxing, and many other matters.

We recently received information on subsequent contacts between the capital cities. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev commented on the situation after a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Sergey Rumas. He said that a more or less clear picture would emerge by late June. So this is what I expect. It is being handled by the agencies responsible for economic and financial policy.

Question: So you cannot tell us if they discussed the issue of unified taxation there?

Sergey Lavrov: The presidents instructed the task force at the level of deputy prime minister under the supervision of the two prime ministers to figure out how we will proceed with integration and which provisions of the Union Treaty need addressing. This is what they are doing now.

I hope that you as professionals realise that when negotiations are underway, negotiators do not appear in public every day to report on who proposed what. This never happens.

Question: Unfortunately.

Sergey Lavrov: Luckily, not unfortunately. The experience of many countries and the UN shows that as soon as negotiations become a matter of public discussion, the negotiators become entrench in their positions, and nothing positive follows. It does not happen any other way.

Question: But it breeds a lot of rumours.

Sergey Lavrov: This is human nature.

Question: Many wrote that Vladimir Putin will head the Union State in 2024.

Sergey Lavrov: You and I read about that.

Question: What if the public were informed about some details, that in reality the issue of taxation is being discussed.

Sergey Lavrov: The Union Treaty includes nothing that implies a speculation that its goal is to propel someone to the "presidential throne." Just read it. You are professionals. The treaty does not say this.

Question: Can I ask you about Ambassador Mikhail Babich? All the sides are satisfied with his work. Minsk says there are no complaints regarding the substantive aspects, and the Kremlin is satisfied. So, why was he recalled?

Sergey Lavrov: The decision on appointing ambassadors is made by the President proceeding from a number of factors concerning the promotion of our relations with a certain country, and from the situations involving the person who holds the post of ambassador. Anyone can have personal circumstances. I would not be so curious if I were a journalist. You should not be like the Nezygar telegram channel which published some nonsense regarding this. Apparently, somebody craved a scandal, but to no avail.

Question: They also wrote that Russia would cede ground to Minsk.

Sergey Lavrov: I was shown the Nezygar telegram channel a couple of times because it carried a reference to the Russian ambassador. I do not think the channel is worthy of that much attention, especially from such a respected company as RBC.

Question: Mr Lavrov, you have repeatedly said that Prince Alexander Gorchakov is one of your professional role models. He was one of the few Russian foreign ministers who was able to significantly influence state policy. Moreover, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, he often argued with Emperor Alexander II. How would you assess your influence on Russia's state policy? Do you often argue with President Vladimir Putin?

Sergey Lavrov: Trying to get me again, aren't you?

Alexander Gorchakov was a great State Chancellor. He took office at a very difficult time after the Crimean War. It was then that he said his well-known phrase, "Russia is not angry, Russia is concentrating." In the heyday of his career, without a single shot, as Fyodor Tyutchev wrote, "moving not a cannon, not a rouble," he fully restored Russia's foothold on the Black Sea. This was his greatest service to the state. His vast experience and length of service provided him free access to the Sovereign. I know that he often – maybe not argued exactly, but definitely made his own proposals, which were then discussed.

To be honest, our President shapes Russia's foreign policy much in the same way as it was done in the Russian Empire, the way it was shaped by the Emperor. The government agency in charge of foreign relations (now called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is responsible for implementing the presidential foreign policy. The foreign policy is not built from scratch. We make our proposals for President Putin to consider just as our colleagues do, especially at the departments whose heads are permanent members of the Russian Security Council. The key tracks of our foreign policy are always discussed collectively at operational meetings of the permanent Security Council members. All opinions are heard, and in some cases –quite often, actually – there is no unanimity. We state our arguments, trying to convince each other. When the discussion ends, the final decision is made by the President. I consider this practice democratic for its collegiality and I think it helps achieve clarity and symmetry in determining our country's foreign policy.

Question: Sometimes you venture to express your personal opinion. I understand your article for the International Affairs journal reflected a personal need to speak out and formulate your attitude towards Victory Day and the recent criticisms about the rationale and scale of the festivities.

Sergey Lavrov: You are quite right. That was my personal and civic position. I consider it very dangerous to encourage the "militarisation of consciousness" or "we should downplay Victory Day celebrations" rhetoric. "Look, a few soldiers just marched around with First World War muskets, and that was it." First, that is not at all true. In the article, I cited facts about how it is celebrated, including in the United States, with aircraft and armoured vehicles. Secondly, it is the same philosophy that somehow made its way to one of our independent channels, which said about the Siege of Leningrad: "Why did we lose so many lives, why did people starve to death? We could have surrendered the city like Paris." I will not even comment on this. This philosophy might be good enough for some other nation, but not for Russians.

Question: Perhaps the parades became hostage, to an extent, to the general atmosphere that is emerging in this country. I am referring to experts on TV talk shows, who discuss nuclear war prospects in a matter-of-fact tone and try to figure out who will be the winner.

Sergey Lavrov: I don't know these experts, or anyone who speculates like that.

Question: There are such speculations. On Channel One, for example.

Sergey Lavrov: Who, for instance? If someone said that a nuclear war was possible, you must have memorised their names. I would memorise them.

Question: An episode in Dmitry Kiselev's programme, where Russian missiles were heading for California. This is just one example.

Sergey Lavrov: The United States also models the use of its strategic weapons. I don't want to say that a possibility of nuclear war must be discussed, but every head of state and the armed forces have a duty to maintain their strategic nuclear forces in a battle-ready state. The history of the last few decades has proven that otherwise you cannot ensure your sovereignty. And, regrettably, there is no other way to make others respect you either. It is not working out because the United States has decided that it alone can establish the rules and call the tune on this planet. This is not our choice. The whole thing began quite a while ago, when the Soviet Union disappeared and it became clear to us how the US would treat our country. The situation began to change with the coming to power of the people who took that understanding close to heart and the situation began to turn around. But this is antagonising our American partners.

We are coming full circle because this is what I began answering your question about sanctions with. One could talk at length about this.

Pacifism is a good thing, perhaps, but pacifism that amounts to defeatism in a certain situation is unacceptable. All experts have every opportunity (fortunately, information on practically every issue is within reach) to look at the US military doctrines, including who they identify as an adversary, who the entire nuclear policy should be directed against, etc. If you look at the doctrine, you will see that it was not us who lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. The United States did it in its doctrine. I am all for peace. I don't think that the "if you want peace, prepare for war" is the right phrase that we have inherited from our ancients. But it is certain that you must be ready to defend yourself.

Let me tell you another thing. Perhaps our American colleagues will hear me. In the latter half of the 20thcentury, the USSR and USA leaders approved statements on the inadmissibility and unacceptability of a nuclear war on two occasions. Almost nine months ago, we urged our US colleagues to do the same again under modern conditions. They are thinking about it.

South Africa
Author: Rebecca Campbell
Source: www.engineeringnews.co.za

In comments made in Beijing on May 24, which appear not to have been much, if at all, reported outside his home country, Brazilian Vice-President Hamilton Mourãocalled on the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (Brics) alignment to switch away from political issues and focus instead on economic development. He was speaking at the end of a visit to China, which included a visit to the head office of the New Development Bank, popularly called the Brics bank.

"Today, the economic question should be preponderant," he said. "The political question, I will not touch on certain details here, because there are details of this aspect that are more personal and secret. But we have a hybrid war in force in the world, that comes from one of the members of Brics. So this raises a series of problems."

(This was seen as a reference to Russia. It should perhaps be pointed out that, while Russia has been backing the regime of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, Brazil has recognised Juan Guaidó as that country's legitimate President.)

Mourão expressed the view that a Brics that ceased seeking political convergence would still have value for Brazilian interests. "We want to have flexibility and pragmatism," he affirmed. "And seek that within Brics which has the real capacity to, the five countries united, dictate at least some part of the global rules. But this political question – we have differences, which are very marked."

"We need precisely to get away from being [literally: staying] like a debating society, where the Presidents go, make half-a-dozen lovely speeches, sign a generic declaration and everything stays the same, as it was in the Abrantes barracks [a proverb, meaning that, despite all the work done, everything stays the same]."

Regarding the Brics Bank, he stated "[w]e must use it more". He said that Brazil should use it to fund infrastructureprojects which "are stopped" in Brazil.

Brazil will host the next Brics summit, which will take place in November this year. Currently, the South American country is the President Pro Tempore of the alignment. Mourão also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, inviting him to visit Brazil later this year, at the time of the Brics summit.

USA
Author: Alison Holder
Source: www.usnews.com

ECONOMIC GROWTH ACROSS the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) averaged 5.4% per year between 2008 and 2017, far eclipsing the average of less than 1% per year in the United States and Europe over the same period. Between 2016 and 2021 the BRICS nations will have accounted for about half of world growth, according to projections from the International Monetary Fund.

With recent major elections in both South Africa and India, and just last year in Brazil, will the current generation of BRICS leaders be able to sustain that record of economic growth? The answer to that question will come down to how well the proceeds of growth benefit all groups, particularly women and girls.

Evidence shows that gender equality, particularly in education and employment, contributes to economic growth. But a new measure of gender equality across 129 countries – aligned to the ambitious commitments made in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – shows the BRICs countries as a group are under-performing against the global average on gender equality. Many countries with lower levels of economic development than at least four of the five BRICS countries – including Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan – performed better when it comes to gender equality.

With just over 10 years left to reach the SDGs by 2030, and the BRICs nations needing new strategies to sustain their growth trajectories, these five economic powerhouses should heed the warning signs. While there are gender equality-related issues where the BRICS nations outperform the global average – including those related to health, poverty and clean energy – there are a number of issues on which the BRICS countries fall behind the rest of the world and even behind countries with much lower levels of economic development.

Gender equality trouble spots for the BRICS countries is particularly evident in the lack of transparency in government budgets and the gaps in gender statistics: issues that include women's safety from violence, low levels of women's political participation, weak scores on key labor rights and high levels of economic inequality between the richest and poorest in society in general. Cumulatively, these statistics show a disproportionately negative impact on women and children.

None of the BRICs countries are yet making the changes in policies, laws and budget decisions needed to ensure that women and girls benefit equally from, and have the chance to contribute to, a future of shared and sustained growth across the BRICS bloc. All of the BRICS nations could do more to convert their economic wealth into driving progress for women and girls.

Take women's political representation in senior government or ministerial positions. Leaving aside South Africa, which performs quite well on this measure, Brazil (just 4% of senior government positions are held by women), Russia (10%), China (10%), and India (19%) are in the bottom half of countries on this indicator. Women are not rising to the highest ranks of government power in four of the five BRICS countries. And yet much poorer countries like Rwanda, Nicaragua, Peru and Uganda top the world when it comes to having high proportions of women in senior government roles.

While it is clear that much more needs to be done across the BRICS on key gender equality issues, there are examples of progress that can be built upon and gains that must be guarded against rollbacks.

In China, for example, the National Program for Women's Development that ran from 2001 to 2010, as well as the National Program for Women's Development currently running from 2011 to 2020, have increased access to preventive screenings, standard reproductive health-care services, and health and nutritional education.

In Brazil in 2015, under the previous government, a law was passed that criminalizes femicide(the gender-motivated killing of women); it also strengthened penalties for offenders.

In Russia, entrepreneur, lawyer and rights activist Alyona Popova is preparing a draft bill to criminalize domestic violence. She is also lobbying for the introduction of the first restraining orders in Russia.

And South Africa has some of the highest rates of women represented in parliament and in senior government positions in the world.

There are signs that social norms are shifting, as well. A 2019 survey in India revealed that 75% of respondents (drawn from urban communities) supported women working outside their homes. Almost 90% agreed that Indian men and women should be paid equally for the same job.

When the BRICS leaders meet this November in Brazil for their annual summit, it is certain that champions for gender equality and equal rights for women and girls will be trying to make their voices heard. BRICS Feminist Watch and the BRICS Women Business Alliance are just two examples of groups advocating for the bloc to do more to tackle the gender inequalities pervasive across all five nations.

The question is whether BRICS leaders will heed the opportunity to better ensure that the talents and potential of half of their population are not cast aside. As they look for development strategies that will keep them at the top of the world's economic growth league table, gender equality is a strategy in which the BRICS nations are currently under-invested.

South Africa
Author: Dr Dennis George
Source: www.iol.co.za

JOHANNESBURG – It is obvious that Africa and South Africa do not participate in the $498 billion (R7.2 trillion) global value chain of semiconductor manufacturing. The US semiconductor industry is a worldwide industry leader that controls about half of global market share through sales of $209bn in 2018. It directly employs 250 000 people in the US and supports more than 1 million additional jobs in that country.


The global value chain is monopolised by the US, starting with the first step of research and development, followed by the second step in Asia where the silicon ingots are cut into wafers.

In the third step the blank wafers are completed as finished wafers in the US, then in the fourth step the finished wafers are cut into dies in the US. In step five the dies are assembled, tested and packaged in Asia.

From there in step six the final product is shipped for inventory to China, where it is integrated into step seven as a consumer good by end-product assembly and it is shipped to the US in step eight for end product marketing to the global customer.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, at the state banquet held in honour of Chinese President Xi Jinping last year, said: "We celebrated our co-operation in science, technology and innovation today and I am heartened by the depth of the co-operation in cutting-edge projects geared towards the realisation of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR)."

At the BRICS Business Forum the following day, Dr Iqbal Survé, who at that time was the chairperson of the South African BRICS Business Council, introduced Jinping to about 2000 businesses from BRICS countries.

Xi highlighted that 4IR should be confronted within the next decade and that new global growth drivers must be unleashed to replace old ones.


Xi argued that a new round of revolution and transformation in science, technology and industries featuring artificial intelligence, big data, quantum information and biotechnology were gaining momentum.

We must seize this important opportunity to enable emerging markets and developing countries to achieve leapfrog development, said Xi.

This year Ramaphosa appointed members of the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), to identify relevant policies, strategies and action plans to position South Africa as a competitive global player.

I argue the 4IR Commission should focus its attention on the manufacturing of semiconductors to ensure the country is part of the global value chain to support employment creation and the achievement of high inclusive economic growth. South Africa could benefit from the Chinese semiconductor industry, which currently produces only 5 percent of the global demand for own consumption.

Manufacturing of semiconductors is important to South Africa.

Semiconductors are the brains of modern electronics and are giving intensification to new technologies that hold the promise to transform society for the better, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced wireless networks, the Internet of Things, self-driving cars, and more. It is generally argued semiconductors' greatest potential lies ahead.

It is critical for the 4IR Commission to develop policies, strategies and action plans to manufacture semiconductors in South Africa to prevent the situation that Africans are only consumers of modern electronics.

The 4IR Commission should also encourage the establishment of ICT companies to support employment creation and economic growth.

While the government was pinning its hopes on the 4IR Commission, Ramaphosa did not welcome the listing of the biggest black ICT company on the JSE, not in terms of job creation, nor capital investment.

The silence of the government and Business Unity South Africa were deafening on the listing of AYO Technologies Solutions - it was only the Black Business Council that welcomed the successful listing.

Another example was the actions of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) that made an irrational decision by issuing it with a compliance notice.

The high court in Pretoria ruled that the order issued by the CIPC compelling the PIC to recoup the money it invested in AYO was unlawful.

South Africa will never be able to address its unemployment crisis if the government and its agencies undermine Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) companies and glorify white-owned companies.

Julius Malema of the EFF has warned Ramaphosa that he was not elected by Stellenbosch.

Another example of co-ordinated media attacks on BBBEE ICT companies was the case of Sagarmatha Technologies, which was to be listed on the JSE. Sagarmatha received a letter from the JSE giving notice to the company that the listing could no longer proceed.

The JSE argued that the company did not submit its annual financial statements to the CIPC at the time that the pre-listing statement was approved by the JSE.

Although this was not a requirement, the listing investment of R5bn was a loss to the country, including the 4500 top computer science and engineering jobs that would have been created across Africa in cities like Lagos, Cape Town and Cairo.

The pre-listing statement of Sagarmatha argues for partnerships and plans for major investments in skills and development in the technology space. These include university scholarships and bursaries; training for new computer programmers and promoting IT literacy for 5000 technology trainees on the continent.

I hope going forward that the 4IR Commission will create a dynamic environment for listed, private companies and SMMEs to prosper, create jobs and support economic growth.

As Xi points out, the global semiconductor sector market offers opportunities not to be missed.

This is an opportunity for South Africa to build a semiconductor manufacturing facility, if an entrepreneur like Dr Survé is supported to facilitate a joint venture. MinTek could design the silicon ingots processing machine using the Czochralski process from beneficiated Si02 according IOTA 8 standard.

Such a venture is capital-intensive, costing upwards of $10bn, while relying on hundreds of specialised tools, machines and equipment, many of which cost millions a unit.

The 4IR Commission must decide how South Africa will break into the powerful global value chain of semiconductor manufacturing to support job creation and higher inclusive economic growth.



Dr Dennis George completed his master's degree in Management Technology and Innovation with the Da Vinci Institute.

China
Author: Sun Zhuangzhi
Source: africa.chinadaily.com.cn

China and Russia should seize the opportunities in areas such as tourism, agriculture, hi-tech, information technology and e-commerce

China-Russia relations have undergone twists and turns over the past seven decades since 1949. It is hard for the two neighboring countries, both great powers in the world, to ignore each other, geographically, politically, economically or culturally, and they have unique relations.

During the past 70 years, the two countries have had the best relationship as well as the worst, from being close allies to having border conflicts, and finally to the normalization of bilateral relations. Now, the two have the best relations among the major countries.

By virtue of geographic proximity, when two neighboring major countries genuinely open the door to each other and establish friendly relations, it will bring great convenience to their political, economic and people-to-people exchanges, and China-Russia relations are rapidly strengthening on all fronts.

However, compared with the constantly improving political relationship, the bilateral economic cooperation and exchanges lag behind. Although they have scored some early and prominent achievements in this regard - the bilateral trade volume exceeded $100 billion last year and it is expected to reach $200 billion in 2024 - economic cooperation between the two countries still has great potential yet to be tapped.

Most importantly, the two countries are highly complementary in terms of their economic, industrial and resource structures. China is one of the world's largest energy importers while Russia is one of the largest exporters. Geographic proximity makes it quite convenient for Russia to sell its abundant natural resources, such as oil, natural gas, lumber and metals, to China.

However, Chinese investment in Russia has not witnessed rapid growth. Russia's largest economic partner is Europe. Despite the sanctions imposed by the European Union, the trade volume between Russia and the European Union is four times that of Russia's trade with China.

Direct investment from China to Russia has been concentrated in certain fields, and is mostly supported by government-backed loans instead of being dominated by businesses. This, as a matter of fact, has affected the level and depth of bilateral economic cooperation.

In my opinion, the role of market mechanisms in China-Russia trade and economic cooperation should be strengthened to fully exert the functions of market entities and unleash the vitality of businesses. Right now, bilateral economic cooperation is mostly advanced by government forces whereas the potential of businesses, especially small- and medium-sized businesses, is yet to be fully tapped. When promoting economic cooperation, we should respect market rules, with equality and mutual benefits as the underlying principles and take into account each other's requirements.

China and Russia could start with cooperation in priority industries.

The two countries have enormous potential for cooperation in key fields, such as natural gas pipelines, military cooperation and other industries with strategic significance.

In recent years, the two sides are exploring cooperation in the production of large aircraft and helicopters, some industrial parks have been set up in Russia, and the two countries plan on more regional cooperation.

Regional cooperation has yet to yield many concrete results. On the one hand, such cooperation requires certain conditions; on the other hand, we should follow market rules and principles.

With the Russian market developing in a sound manner and China having experienced 40 years of reform and opening-up, the opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation are many and the two countries should seize the opportunities in areas such as tourism, agriculture, hi-tech, information technology and e-commerce.

The United States' attacks on Chinese trade and companies have provided plenty of opportunities for agricultural cooperation between China and Russia.

Whole-industry-chain collaboration is crucial for closer China-Russia economic ties. Instead of only buying products, Chinese companies should also make investments and set up manufacturing bases in Russia.

Some Chinese companies have set a good example by doing so in Central Asian countries. For instance, China National Petroleum Corporation not only makes energy purchases in Kazakhstan, but it has also built a large number of gas stations in the country, serving high-quality petroleum. This shows that there's much room for energy cooperation besides the buyer-seller relationship.

Russia attaches great importance to economic restructuring and transformation. Chinese companies should carefully study relevant policies to seize the opportunities in the priority areas the Russian government is supporting.

For instance, the incumbent Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev pays high attention to the development of the digital economy, which presents cooperation opportunities to relevant Chinese companies.

China has been developing e-government and Internet Plus manufacturing and it has accumulated rich experience in this regard. Chinese companies can provide whole sets of software equipment and carry out experience exchanges with their Russian counterparts.

China-Russia political relations have already reached a very high level, and are expected to be further consolidated and strengthened. In a number of multilateral organizations, such as the G20, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS, China and Russia share common ground and interests.

The two countries have a stable, continuously improving relationship, and are aligning the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union. Against this backdrop, China-Russia economic cooperation has bright prospects.

The author is director of Institute of Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies at Chinese academy of social sciences. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

India
Author: Rishabh Sethi
Source: sputniknews.com

Rishabh Sethi, Head of Global projects in BRICS International Forum, told Sputnik about the role of public diplomacy in the processes taking place in large international associations, such as BRICS.


He also outlined plans of the organisation's participation in events on the eve of the BRICS summit in Brazil this year, as well as next year's summit to be held in Chelyabinsk.

Sputnik: What are your impressions from this year's St. Petersburg forum?

Rishabh Sethi: First of all, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Rishabh Sethi; I'm the Head of International Projects from BRICS International Forum, India. I'm very much happy and excited to be here, the second time at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). I participated last year as a speaker here; and this year I'll also be a speaker at some of the stations regarding sustainable development goals.

This year we are expecting more participation from various countries across the globe as compared to last year. And recently India had elections, so Prime Minister Modi is in power again with a lot of support from the people of India. Russia and India are like very close friends from the time of freedom of India.

And in terms of the BRICS platform, we are doing a lot of multilateral projects as well as bilateral projects (India-Russia) in terms of defence cooperation, education system and many more.

Sputnik: Your project mainly works, at this moment it comes from both India and Russia; what about other BRICS members? Is there any participation perspective from South Africa, wider participation from the Chinese and from Brasil; because I know it's difficult times for BRICS in terms of these countries being part of it?

Rishabh Sethi: If we talk about China, so China is having some political issues with the United States and the Western countries; but in terms of the BRICS platform China is very much actively doing a lot of business things with Russia. As far as South Africa is concerned, they also recently had elections, so Mr Cyril Ramaphosa is also in power again and he is also supporting the BRICS idea very much as last year there was a BRICS summit in South Africa; and this year 2019 there is a BRICS summit in Brazil, in São Paulo.

So, Brazil is very much actively working upon the BRICS summit. And India is doing so many projects on the BRICS platform with these countries. As far as China is concerned, it's [India's] neighbour country, we are doing a lot of electrical business with China.

Sputnik: How important is people's diplomacy for the BRICS ideas?

Rishabh Sethi: People's diplomacy is playing one of the key roles because even the government is working behind the closed doors so nobody can enter; but if we talk about people's diplomacy, people-to-people dialogue, it's like an open platform for people related to government, non-governmental, private or public people; so, everybody is free to come and share their projects, ideas and businesses, develop more relations, trade and economy growth among the countries.

Sputnik: Are there any particular plans and projects, and maybe events that you are launching this year, maybe next year? What are your plans?

Rishabh Sethi: Last year we started the International Forum in India called Vision for Future; in March this year there was the second forum, and next year we're going to hold the third edition which will be dedicated to the BRICS summit that is going to happen in Russia. The main core agenda of this theme is to achieve sustainable development goals by digitalisation, by international cooperation.

Sour main focus will be a maximum of countries to participate, this year 18 countries participated, including all the BRICS countries, SCO countries, CIS countries, G20 countries, European Union, Eurasian Union and African countries. So, we are very much actively working among all these countries across the globe; and we represent more than 60+ countries presently in the world.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of Rishabh Sethi and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.

Russia
Source: www.mid.ru

Allow me to cordially welcome the organisers and participants of the 3rd BRICS and SCO Student Spring International Festival.

By bringing together young and motivated people, the Festival has become a popular venue that facilitates the development of business, cultural and humanitarian ties. It is no coincidence that this is the second festival sponsored by UNESCO.

These efforts deserve profound respect. Youth exchanges are making an important contribution to strengthening the foundations of interstate relations, promoting a positive, forward-looking international agenda, and maintaining an atmosphere of peace, friendship and trust between nations.

BRICS and the SCO are multilateral associations of a new type that conform to 21st-century realities. Enhancing cooperation in these formats is one of the absolute priorities of Russia's foreign policy. I am confident that the implementation of the meeting's packed programme will make it possible to exchange best practices, establish contacts useful for all sides, and conceive new unconventional initiatives. And, of course, the participants will be able to familiarise themselves with the rich historical heritage of the Stavropol Territory.

I wish you every success in your work and all the best.