Russia’s Expectations of China Are Rising – German Newspaper

Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to pay a visit to Beijing in September 2015 to discuss further expansion of cooperation between China and Russia.

According to FAZ, China is pursuing a pragmatic power policy under the primacy of economic interests. Russia and China, the world's largest energy exporter and the world's largest energy importer are neighbors. They are destined to closely cooperate with each other and it is surprising that they have not done so before.

Their cooperation in the energy sector started in 2013. In 2014, Russia dramatically changed its political outlook towards Asian countries, in particular due to the Ukrainian conflict and sanctions imposed by the West.

However, not all Moscow’s expectations regarding Russia-Chinese friendship have been met.  Chinese financial institutions have expanded their business activities in the neighboring country, but not in the volumes Russian politicians had hoped for. Moreover, no concrete results have yet been achieved on the gas pipeline to western China through the Altai Mountains.

According to FAZ, China is clever enough to not accompany new partnerships with aggressive rhetoric, which could hamper fruitful economic cooperation with other actors. Thus, since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, China had chosen a restrained position as it did not want to be involved in a conflict with the West as it could negatively affect its economic interests.

China decided to develop financial institutions as an alternative to the US-led IMF where it could play a dominant role. The AIIB is likely to become a major arena for China- Russia cooperation, being fruitful for both countries. However, Moscow should not expect from China a readiness to follow its example and break all relations with the West. Despite all differences between China and Western countries, pragmatism will gain the upper hand in the end, FAZ reported.