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30 Deals to Be Tabled During Putin’s September Visit to Beijing

© AFP 2023 / Greg BAKERRussia's President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping - Sputnik International
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Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to discuss trade and economic cooperation, and international issues with his Chinese partners during his visit to Beijing on September 2-3, according to the president’s aide Yuri Ushakov.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Putin is also to hold bilateral meetings with the heads of Venezuela, the Czech Republic and Laos. Ushakov said that about 30 documents are scheduled for signing in Beijing, but the contract on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline is not on the agenda.

Putin’s visit to Beijing is timed to the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two and China’s victory in the war against Japan.

"Apart from the President’s attendance of celebratory events, the visit has an important bilateral aspect, which has become usual for Russia-China relations in recent years," Ushakov emphasized.

The agenda includes talks between the leaders of Russia and China and Putin’s meeting with Premier Li Keqiang.

The Russian and Chinese leaders are expected to discuss trade and economic cooperation and the further development of international relations, share opinions on international and regional issues.

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They will talk of ways to strengthen interaction in the United Nations, G20, the APEC forum of 21 Pacific Rim nations and other international organizations, and the establishment of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union against the backdrop of the China-proposed Silk Road Economic Belt and cooperation among the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS states.

According to Putin’s aide, the sides might also discuss bilateral online trade. Yu Hang, general manager of Ruston, which holds one-third of the logistics online services market in China, said last week that online trade between Russia and China was prospected to reach $36 billion in 2015 and grow by 30 percent annually over the next few years.

Ushakov added that the sides intended to reaffirm their joint viewpoint on the results of WWII, and that Russian officials were going to express gratitude to the Chinese for taking care of Soviet war graves.

A total of some 30 documents have been prepared for signing in Beijing, Ushakov indicated.

"One concerns the opening of Russian consulates general in Harbin and Wuhan and Chinese consulates in Vladivostok and Kazan, which is important for the further development of our political, trade and economic interaction," he said.

Gazprom is preparing to sign a memorandum of understanding on the delivery of natural gas through a pipeline from the Russian Far East to China, he said.

Speaking about the Power of Siberia project, he said that Moscow and Beijing were in talks to sign a contract on the delivery of Russian gas to China through the Western route, but are unlikely to sign the document during the upcoming visit.

"Intensive talks are underway on the Western route," Ushakov said.

When asked if the document could be signed during the upcoming visit, he said: "As of this moment, this is unlikely, although talks are ongoing."

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The Western route provides for delivering 30 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas annually from West Siberia to China during the first stage. In May 2015, Gazprom and CNPC signed an agreement on the framework of pipeline gas deliveries through that route in a project that has been named the Power of Siberia 2.

The president’s aide emphasized the goal of increasing bilateral trade to $200 annually by 2020. Mutual trade, which amounted to $88.4 billion in 2014, slumped by 28.7 percent to $30.6 billion in January-June because of plummeting commodity prices and the overall decline of Chinese exports, Ushakov said.

President Putin plans to hold several bilateral meetings in Beijing. According to Ushakov, he and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro planned to discuss joint measures to stabilize global oil prices, primarily in the framework of Russia’s cooperation with OPEC.

"The agenda for Putin’s meeting with President [Milos] Zeman of the Czech Republic includes detailed discussions of bilateral relations, trade, economic, investment, energy and cultural cooperation, as well as Russia-EU dialogue," the presidential aide said.

He said Putin’s meeting with the Laotian leader would be significant in light of Laos’s upcoming ASEAN Presidency in 2016.

"Russia and its ASEAN partners plan to mark the 20th anniversary of Russia’s business cooperation with that influential organization by holding a Russia-ASEAN summit. In this context, the planned meeting with the Laotian president holds special significance," Ushakov said, adding that the Russian and Laotian leaders will also discuss bilateral relations.

Replying to a question about possible meetings "on the go," Ushakov said that they could not be ruled out but were tough to predict given the packed agenda. According to our Chinese partners, the celebrations in Beijing will be attended by the heads of over 20 states and governments, the presidential aide said.

When asked about the possibility of a meeting between President Putin and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan on the sidelines of the Beijing celebrations, Ushakov said that the Japanese prime minister would not be visiting Beijing during that period.

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