This year marks the 20th anniversary of the strategic partnership between China and Russia. It is also the 15th anniversary of the Treaty of Good Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation signed between the two great powers. In March, over 40 Chinese scholars and 20 Russians gathered at Shanghai's East China Normal University to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing Sino-Russian relations.

Experts from both sides believe that the China-Russian relationship is maturing in political, economic and cultural aspects following achievements in the Sino-Russian cooperation such as the "constructive partnership" of 1992 and the "strategic partnership" of 1996 that have lead to positive interactions and frequent official visits.

"China and Russia view each other as the priority in diplomacy. In the past 20 years, relations between China and Russia developed steadily and positively," said Cheng Guoping, national counter-terrorism security commissioner at the forum.

However, according to Zhang Deguang, former Chinese ambassador to Russia, the weakness of bilateral relations lies in people-to-people diplomacy. The two peoples lack communication and exchange, and civil trade between Chinese and Russian businesses is not developed enough.

Facing severe threats

Influenced by the global economic downturn and the fall of international commodity prices, trade between Russia and China was valued at just $68 billion last year, a decrease of 28.6 percent from the year before. But the actual trade volume and level of traded products is still improving, with China remaining Russia's biggest trade partner.

Furthermore, the two countries are planning deep cooperation in China's "Silk Road Economic Belt" and "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" initiatives. When Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last May, they signed a joint declaration combining the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) project and the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) initiative.

Experts suggest that China and Russia should take advantage of this cooperation and set common goals for the next 10 to 15 years. Nonetheless, the international situation is still complicated, with security issues remaining one of the most difficult complications.

"I want to emphasize that we face all kinds of severe threats. The countries that were quite successful before in international relations are also subject to these threats. No country could deal with them alone. It is important for us to build a safe, cooperative and mutual beneficial future," said Andrey Bystritskiy, chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Established in 2004, the club aims to promote dialogue between Russian and international scholars so as to provide scientific analysis of international relations. During the two-day discussions in Shanghai, scholars held comprehensive discussions on global and regional security risks, governance at national and local levels and the further coordination between the EEU and SREB.

"If we want to assure the stable and effective cooperation between Russia and China, we need to know what the decision-makers want," said Bystritskiy.

A forum on Sino-Russian relations is held recently at Shanghai's East China Normal University. Photo: Yang Lan/GT

 
Newspaper headline: People-to-people diplomacy