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Happy together?

Vladimir Remyga

Chairman of the Coordination Council for Interaction with Business Associations of Asia of the International Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ICIE)

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What binds Russia and China 70 years later

Chairman of the Coordination Council for Interaction with Business Associations of Asian Countries of the International Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ICIE), Doctor of Economic Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Vladimir Remyga told about the visit of the PRC President Xi Jinping to Moscow and about the prospects of cooperation between Russia and China.

- Vladimir Nikolayevich, for a long time, the role of China in World War II was underestimated. Now, when Russia is under the yoke of Western sanctions, we are planning a series of large-scale Russian-Chinese events dedicated to the 70 anniversary of the Victory. Is this a political move on our part?

- I don't think this is so, because the decision to jointly hold events to celebrate the Victory in World War II was agreed upon by Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin more than a year ago. There was no special push for these things. But, indeed, as my colleague from Vladivostok put it, the war in the Far East has not ended. There are so many points of tension, so many consequences of this war, which people know so little about, which undoubtedly pushes us - both Russia and China - to consider the results of World War II and the situation in the Far East as a whole with special attention. with the utmost care.

There is a second side to this matter. During the visit of the PRC President, an agreement will be signed on Russia's entry into the strategy of the economic belt of the Great Silk Road. The question is very acute - will we participate in this strategy in full, on a full scale, with the participation of the regions of the Far East, with the participation of our railways, BAM, Transsib and other routes (it is not so much routes that are important, but how many projects - after all, special importance is attached to the economic belt not as a route, but as projects linking Asia and Europe). How much Russia will fit into this strategy is what is important. The question may not be directly related to the outcome of World War II, but it is related to how our relations with China will develop and what are their prospects.

- Do you think the visit of President Xi Jinping to China is more than a political challenge to China in the West or contributes to socio-economic cooperation between Russia and China?

- I think this visit has a lot of politics and economics. Of course, most of the visit is devoted to ensuring that there is no unnecessarily hard review of the outcome of the Second World War. This is a big block of questions. Of course, it is important that for the first time representatives of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will cross the Red Square.

Nevertheless, today there is a lot of talk about the fact that Russia is turning to the East, where our main partner is China. In all these plans, the economic component plays a huge role. We are increasingly moving away in economic terms from both Europe and America. I will give some examples related to the strategy of the Great Silk Road. More recently, on April 14, it was announced that Russia had entered the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank with a registered capital of $ 100 billion. Many observers believe that this bank was created as a counterbalance to the Monetary Fund, and, let's say, this is an attempt to move away from the dollar and move towards creating a new financial and economic infrastructure. In addition, one of the most important events in Russia will take place this year - the BRICS Forum on July 9-10 in Ufa, where a decision will also be made to create the BRICS Development Bank. See what major changes are taking place in the global economic and financial infrastructure. And in all these banks and economic plans, China is in the lead. Therefore, the economic component of Xi Jinping's visit plays a huge role.

Media News2

Here is another small detail of a scientific conference held in Moscow on the role of the USSR and China in achieving Victory over fascism and Japanese militarism in World War II. Chen Yuan is the chairman of the Sino-Russian Friendship Society. His father, Chen Yun, studied in the Soviet Union for many years and was one of the leading economists in China, who headed the State Development Bank of China. Now this bank is considering investing in Russian projects. For example, in the near future the question of China's participation in the construction of the Moscow-Kazan highway will be discussed. The State Development Bank of China plays a major part in the development of this project. There is a huge project in the air that will change both Europe and Asia, probably - the construction of a high-speed Moscow-Beijing highway, which will become a continuation of the Moscow-Kazan highway. A corresponding working group has been created. I think this project is on its way. If he goes, and there is no opposition yet, then he will simply change the world map.

- Will the “Pivot of Russia to the East”, which is a state priority today, give impetus to the development of the regions of the Far East? And which one in the first place?

- There is a lot of talk about this “reversal”, but, unfortunately, there are not so many cases as we would like. For example, there was a very well thought-out program for the joint development of Siberia and northeastern China. However, to date, it does not go, but stalls in place, including because it was carried out by the Ministry of Regional Development, which is not working now - and it is not known who is now in charge of this program. It seems to me that a very serious conversation will take place in August in Vladivostok, where the Eastern Forum is planned.

The significance of the Far East for Russia can not be overestimated. And it seems to me that in preparing for this forum, clearer and more concrete plans for the development of these regions will be outlined. They can consist of two parts: the direct development of the Far Eastern region with the APEC countries and their entry into these movements and into the development of the economic belt of the Great Silk Road. It is probably a bit early to list the projects that are lit up on this path. There are even such as the construction of a railway from China through the Bering Strait and Alaska to America, but I think this project is not of this century.