Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has begun a two-day trip to China as Moscow looks to strengthen commercial relations with Beijing in the face of increasing isolation from the rest of the world due to its involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
Mishustin said that his country’s farmers were prepared to considerably boost agricultural exports to China during a Russia-China business summit on Tuesday in Shanghai, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
The US, Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, and the UK have all imposed sanctions on the Russian politician. He also stated that trade with China has assisted Russia in reducing its “dependence on the dollar.” He said that greater trading in the native currencies of the two countries has also helped this endeavor.
Prime Minister Mishustin’s first trip to China comes as President Xi Jinping has sent a special envoy to the Ukraine and a number of European nations. The concurrent travels reflect how Beijing is juggling keeping good relations with Moscow with attempting to present Xi as a world mediator with special connections to leaders on both sides of Russia’s battle.
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According to the Russian government, Mishustin will meet with Xi and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss cooperation in agricultural, energy, and transportation infrastructure. Additionally, he will meet Dilma Rousseff, the current head of the New Development Bank in Shanghai and former president of Brazil.
In a letter to the forum before the meeting, Chinese Premier Li referred to it as a “important measure” for putting into practice the agreements reached by Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their March summit in Moscow.
According to Chinese official broadcaster CCTV, Li said in the letter that “China is willing to strengthen economic and trade ties with Russia.”
According to an earlier Bloomberg story, the deputy prime minister for energy, Alexander Novak, was scheduled to go with the Russian president. Dmitry Patrushev, the Russian Minister of agricultural, said last week that he intended to go to address topics including winter wheat and meat supplies to China. On Friday, he spoke at an agricultural conference that was broadcast on RBC TV.
Tycoons that the US and its allies had sanctioned had also been invited, but it was unknown whether they would go. Questions on the incident were not answered by the Chinese foreign ministry or the ministry of commerce.
Since China chose not to participate in the US-led campaign of sanctions on Russia for starting the worst war in Europe since World War II, bilateral commerce has soared. In April, China’s exports to Russia reached a new high, increasing by 153% over the previous year to $9.6 billion.
While China has been purchasing a lot of goods from Russia, difficulties with transit and other factors have made it difficult to import wheat. Mishustin said at the event on Tuesday that the two nations must improve their food security and added that Russian farmers may increase the variety of items they provide.
The Communist Party’s 24 member Politburo member and top security official in Beijing, Chen Wenqing, will also be in Russia from May 21 to May 28 for consultations on law enforcement and security, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Saturday.
–With help from Jill Disis and Li Liu.
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