Belts and Roads

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Eastasia is at Peace with Eurasia. Eastasia has Always Been at Peace with Eurasia. 

“The practical cooperation between China and Russia is based on mutual need, it seeks win-win results and has enormous internal impetus and room for expansion,” said Beijing’s foreign minister Wang Yi. 

As well as sanctions, Vladimir Putin’s Russia is facing a sharp decline in its ruble currency amid an economic crisis fuelled largely by plunging oil prices. 

Both countries are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, where they have in the past jointly used their veto power against Western-backed moves such as in the civil war in Syria. 

Wang told reporters on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress, China’s Communist-controlled parliament, that Beijing and Moscow will “continue to carry out strategic coordination and cooperation to maintain international peace and security”.
Wang’s comments signal that Putin, assailed by the West over the annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, can count on continued Chinese economic and diplomatic support. 

Beijing and Moscow, allies and then adversaries during the Cold War, have over the past quarter century often found common ground internationally, frequently taking similar stands at the UN. 

They have also forged increasingly closer economic ties, with China hungry for Russia’s vast hydrocarbon resources. Western sanctions have made seeking stable markets an urgent need for Putin, whose economy has been hit hard by the fall in prices for oil, a major source of revenue.

(SCMP)

Mr. Wang was referring to the twin initiatives — the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road — which are the pillars for the integration of Eurasian economies, with China as its anchor. 

Analysts say that Russia will be China’s key partner in the open-ended “Belt and Road” initiative, which aims to establish a transportation corridor, which starting from Xian in China, will terminate in Europe. 

It would also be nourished by Indian Ocean ports, which would be linked to the Eurasian land route by designated economic corridors. 

China-Russia strategic cooperation will focus on the development of Russia’s Far Eastern region, the Foreign Minister observed. 

China and Russia will continue to intensify their cooperation in the financial, as well as nuclear power sectors as well. 

Mr. Wang rejected comparisons between the “one belt one road” initiatives of the Marshall Plan, which was meant to resurrect war-ravaged Western economies in the throes of the Cold War. “They [one belt one road initiatives] are the product of inclusive cooperation, not a tool of geopolitics, and must not be viewed with the outdated cold war mentality,” observed Mr. Wang. 

Both countries will hold a series of activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory in World War II with a view to reinforce the sentiment against war.

(The Hindu)

Russia and Chinese trade totalled $95.3bn (£63.3bn) last year, and Wang said that the two sides would "work hard" to increase trade between the countries to $100bn (£66.5bn) in 2015, strengthening economic cooperation in the oil and gas, nuclear power and finance sectors, including the construction of new Russian gas pipelines.

Wang said the countries would engage in joint development and research on long-range wide-body passenger jets, work together to develop Russia's far eastern region, and to build high-speed rail links between the countries.

(IBT)

The China-Russia relationship is not affected by international vicissitudes and not aimed at any third party, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday at the sidelines of the ongoing national legislative session. [Special coverage]

Because of solid strategic trust the two sides have already established, the bilateral relationship becomes more mature and stable, Wang told a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing national legislative session. 

Having established the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, China and Russia have a good tradition of supporting each other, he said. "Friendship between the two peoples provides a strong foundation for strengthening the strategic cooperation."

(Xinhua)