Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media: Israeli commando forces conduct airdrops in two locations in the Damascus countryside.
Israeli media platform: Israeli army forces carry out a commando operation in the al-Kiswah area of the Damascus countryside.
Syrian media outlets: Israeli helicopters flying at low altitude over Tal Mani in the Damascus countryside.
Israeli media platform: Israeli aircraft bomb Syrian bases simultaneously with tanks entering the southern outskirts of Damascus.
Israeli media: Israeli forces infiltrated the town of Beit Jann south of Damascus, and a new airstrike hit al-Kiswah.
Syrian media: Four Israeli helicopters have touched down in the southern city of Sweida.
UN Security Council member states, excluding the United States, confirm that there is a famine in Gaza.
Syrian media: The Israeli occupation forces launch a series of airstrikes in the western Damascus countryside.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: 51 people martyred in Israeli aggression on Gaza since Wednesday morning.
Saree: Yemen will not abandon its stance in support of Gaza no matter the challenges and repercussions until the blockade imposed on the territory is lifted and the aggression it is facing is halted.

China-Russia cooperation adds certainty for the world

  • Ding Heng Ding Heng
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 22 Mar 2023 00:48
  • 1 Shares
6 Min Read

Connectivity between China and Russia doesn’t just benefit the two countries. As a matter of fact, Russia plays a key role in the China-Europe cargo rail link.

  • x
  • China-Russia cooperation adds certainty for the world
    Data compiled by Russian authorities show that Chinese investors currently operate more than 1,000 manufacturing plants in Russia

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Russia visit is closely watched by the international community. While much of the attention, especially for the West, is focused on China’s position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Xi’s primary mission is to further strengthen China’s ties with Russia. To China, this direction is likely to remain unchanged in the foreseeable future regardless of how the Ukraine crisis will be resolved.

A close China-Russia relationship, contrary to the Western perception, doesn’t mean that China supports Russia in the Ukraine war or that Beijing and Moscow are forming an anti-West alliance aimed at challenging the international order. Instead, it creates certainty for the international community.

Trade between China and Russia hit a record high level of $190 billion in 2022, a near 30% year-on-year rise. China’s trade with Primorsky Krai, the largest regional economy in the Russian Far East, surged by 43%. Globally, trade in goods only saw a growth of less than 5% last year, according to the World Trade Organization estimates. So, it’s hard to deny that the China-Russia trade has driven, rather than dragged, global trade.

The increased two-way trade tends to be seen by the West as a sign that China is deliberately providing an economic lifeline to help Russia navigate Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. In reality, however, this scenario is a natural result of years of momentum building in economic cooperation that began long before the Ukraine war broke out.

For instance, China has always attached importance to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the Eastern Economic Forum, two major business events held in Russia annually. Xi Jinping in person attended the former in 2019 and the latter in 2018. There’s no doubt that such events have helped establish business ties. Data compiled by Russian authorities show that Chinese investors currently operate more than 1,000 manufacturing plants in Russia, which have created around 24,000 jobs for Russian workers. Meanwhile, the two-way trade has also been facilitated by closer infrastructure connectivity. For instance, the first highway bridge connecting China and Russia, which can accommodate 630 freight trucks, 164 buses and 68 other vehicles daily, opened last year. This project’s construction began in 2016.

Related News

The US economy and global markets find themselves in a real pickle with Trump's oscillation

Iran's plan to establish BRICS-wide currency could change global trade dynamics

Connectivity between China and Russia doesn’t just benefit the two countries. As a matter of fact, Russia plays a key role in the China-Europe cargo rail link, as the majority of the existing rail routes run across Russia. It takes 16 days for a freight train departing from the central Chinese city of Wuhan to cross Russia and arrive in Germany’s Duisburg. By comparison, maritime shipping from Asia to northern Europe can take twice that long. During the Covid-19 pandemic, these rail routes served as a trade artery between China and Europe at a time when the virus caused serious disruptions to air freight and maritime shipping. The overall trade between China and the EU rose just 2% in 2020, but the number of rail containers that ran between China and Europe via Russia saw a 34% surge in the same year. Europe might have seen more severe trade disruptions during the pandemic without China and Russia’s joint efforts in ensuring the stable operation of the rail routes.

Apart from trade, the China-Russia ties matter to regional peace and security as well. The two countries are arguably the most influential members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and coordination between Beijing and Moscow has played an essential role in ensuring the quality of the cooperation within the SCO’s framework. Between 2013 and 2017 alone, more than 500 potential terror attacks were avoided and more than 2,000 terrorists were arrested thanks to the SCO-wide security cooperation. More recently, such cooperation has helped maintain a relatively secure environment in Central Asia in the wake of the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

That being said, the China-Russia security cooperation under the SCO or bilateral mechanisms doesn’t represent a military alliance, and there seems to be little sign that their security ties are directed at any third country. By comparison, although NATO has a security-focused nature, the military alliance’s existence has not necessarily led to more regional security, if we think about the root cause of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Over the past decade, certainty has probably been the most prominent feature in China-Russia relations. President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin have met each other in person or virtually for dozens of times, and the two-way trade has more than doubled.

In stark contrast, the past decade saw the US move from “engagement” to “containment” in its China policy. Closely following the US step, Britain has shifted from touting a “golden era” to describing China as an “epoch challenge”. Such caprice, at least from China’s perspective, is the source of many uncertainties from which no one will benefit over the long term. In one example, Washington’s trade and tech war against China, which causes tremendous global supply chain disruptions, will certainly lead to a lose-lose situation.

It’s true that Beijing and Moscow sometimes join hands on the international stage. However, instead of trying to challenge the world order, they hope to jointly say no to the uncertainties born out of a mindset that find it difficult to accept a comparative decline of the West and the emergence of multipolarity.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • economy
  • Russia
  • China
  • Trade
Ding Heng

Ding Heng

Radio host and columnist.

Most Read

All
Declassified: CIA’s covert Ukraine invasion plan

Declassified: CIA’s covert Ukraine invasion plan

  • Opinion
  • 16 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Palestine will not be liberated by UN reports, but by pursuing a different strategic horizon: one that does not beg for recognition. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Economy of Genocide: Albanese's report accuses, but doesn't dismantle system

  • Opinion
  • 18 Aug 2025
Those in Occupied Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria – directly affected by Israeli occupation and apartheid – can claim their right to armed struggle under a series of UN resolutions. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Resistance and regime change in occupied Palestine

  • Opinion
  • 17 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
War on Iran

More from this writer

All
Marking 50 years of China-EU diplomacy matters

Marking 50 years of China-EU diplomacy matters

China remains a reliable player in global trade

China remains a reliable player in global trade

Imposing tariffs on Chinese goods shipped to the US hurts China, but American consumers are the victims as well. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Let stability prevail over turbulence in China-US ties

Let common sense return in Australia’s China policy

Let common sense return in Australia’s China policy

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS