China and Russia to Enhance Economic Cooperation

Chinese and Russian experts have forecast that Sino-Russian economic cooperation is expected to climb to a higher level in 10 to 15 years as a number of key projects have been launched.

They include the construction of the Tianwan Nuclear Plant, the biggest Sino-Russian cooperative energy project, in October last year, as well as the operation of the Russian-made generators in the Shuizhong Power Plant, China's largest power plant.

Experts say the trend is encouraging, and is likely to open a new chapter for economic cooperation between the two nations, which share the longest borderline in the world.

Currently Russia ranks ninth among China's trade partners. Bilateral trade volume reached 5.73 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 4.4 percent over 1998. In the first quarter of this year, trade increased by remarkable 26.7 percent to reach 1.42 billion U.S. dollars.

Professor Qin Xuanren from the China Economic and Trade University estimated that the growth will continue and bilateral trade volume will reach a record 6 billion U.S. dollars this year. China and Russia established a close economic tie in the 1950s, and many people have noted that abundant natural resources and huge markets would benefit both sides if they continue the cooperation.

However, their economic cooperation lags far behind their political relationship. To reverse this trend, leaders of the two countries have reiterated that they should cooperate in every specific area and lay a solid foundation for their strategic cooperative relationship.

In recent years, subcommittees of the Sino-Russian premier- level regular meeting committee have been exploring cooperative channels in the areas of economy, trade, science and technology, energy, transportation, and the nuclear and space programs. Focus will be on big projects such as energy and power exploration, as well as the peaceful use of outer space.

In March this year, energy departments of the two countries discussed the possibility of transporting oil and natural gas from Russia's Siberia to China. Russian experts say if the job is done, Russia will provide China with 35 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually through 2010, and the volume of oil transported to China would rise from the current one million tons to 20-30 million tons.

Economists say the strong growth of the Chinese economy will inevitably require a large amount of oil, which is abundant in Russia. The experts believe joint efforts done in the energy area will be the most powerful engine to push forward Sina-Russian economic cooperation.

In May this year, the two countries agreed they will set the development of the industries of energy and high-technology as their priority.

More good news came in June, when Russians announced they have participated in China's ambitious development program in its western region. Russia's plan includes building an enterprise in Xinjiang to produce electricity equipment, digging mines and oil in Qinghai and Xinjiang, providing machinery for the west, and helping China transport natural gas from western to eastern regions.

Li Jingwen, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a foreign scholar at the Russian Academy of Sciences, says that Sino-Russian cooperation will see positive results when the advantages of history and geology as well as industrial structures are considered.

"Russian experiences and technologies can be directly used by our Chinese," he says. "If Russia's political situation is stabilized, its economy will grow, and the cooperative potential will become a real force."

In 1999, the Russian economy rebounded from a decade-long downturn to see a 3.2 percentage growth rate. Russia's new president, Vladimir Putin, has announced his goal of letting the Russian economy grow by 8 to 10 percent in the next century.

China is expected to join the WTO soon, and Russia will complete its WTO negotiations in a few years to come. Experts believe the entry into WTO will enable both countries to do business in a more rational way.

Kanstandin Remchukov, vice chairman of the natural resources committee of the Russian Duma, Russia's parliament, said that the Russian government has decided to place priority on the development of economic and trade relations with China.

Vladimir Portyakov, counselor at the Russian embassy to China, said that the upgrading of Sino-Russian economic cooperation will strengthen their political ties and greatly affect their strategic interests in the Far East.



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