Russia and China: in Search of New Ways of Cooperation
Short version
On May 20, 2014 the Russian International Affairs Council hosted the roundtable “Russia-China: from Cooperation to a Solid Union” with the participation of Russian and Chinese government officials, experts and journalists devoted to furthering humanitarian, economic and political interaction between the two countries. The event was focused on advancement of bilateral cooperation after President Putin’s visit to China this May and analytical paper "Russia-China: 20 Proposals for Economic, Scientific and Humanitarian Partnership" by RIAC expert Larisa Smirnova. The participants underlined the timeliness of her recommendations and the need to promote the dialogue, inter alia, through reciprocal improvement of the two countries’ images.
Full version
On May 20, 2014 the Russian International Affairs Council hosted the roundtable “Russia-China: from Cooperation to a Solid Union” with the participation of Russian and Chinese government officials, experts and journalists devoted to furthering humanitarian, economic and political interaction between the two countries.
The event was focused on advancement of bilateral cooperation after President Putin’s visit to China this May and analytical paper "Russia-China: 20 Proposals for Economic, Scientific and Humanitarian Partnership" by RIAC expert Larisa Smirnova. The participants underlined the timeliness of her recommendations and the need to promote the dialogue, inter alia, through reciprocal improvement of the two countries’ images.
The speakers stressed that both states fail to attach proper attention to foreign policy cooperation and efforts coordination, while many available agreements seem to be too formal to make the partnership genuinely efficient. According to Vladimir Portyakov, Deputy Director of RAS Institute for Far Eastern Studies, we appear to be entering a unique stretch, with Moscow’s focus steadily shifting to its Eastern partners, which might elevate the already fruitful relationship with China to a new level.
The participants also suggested holding a series of expert meetings on various aspects of the Russian-Chinese relationship jointly with officials of the two countries. RIAC plans to continue its analytical work in this area, among other things by publishing later in May a working paper on improvement of Russia’s image in China and Russian soft power to be used for strengthening the cooperative bonds.
Roundtable “Russia-China: from Cooperation to a Solid Union”