Moscow, Beijing agree deals worth $5bn
The Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF) has approved fifteen deals worth $5 billion, according to the head of Russia’s Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriyev.
“It’s very important to increase Chinese investment in the Russian economy and to extend Russian companies’ presence in China,” Dmitriyev told journalists on the sidelines of the 20th regular meeting of Russian and Chinese heads of government.
He also announced that China’s Development Bank and Russia’s Vnesheconombank (VEB) signed an agreement on 10 billion yuan loan allocation for joint projects.
According to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev who is heading Russia’s delegation in China, the two countries have a lot of prospective projects that could be turned into new deals.
The projects are linked with new types of energy, the exploration of new markets, as well as a range of innovative ideas, according to Medvedev.
The Prime Minister also talked about the necessity to create new investment projects and boost trade. Moscow and Beijing are sticking to the plans to raise their mutual trade turnover to $200 billion by 2020, Medvedev said. He marked the importance of cooperation between Russian and Chinese businesses.
Both sides discussed e-commerce which grew by 50 percent this year. On Wednesday, Medvedev met with Jack Ma the head of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba, who expressed his interest in creating a platform that would help Russian companies export abroad.
China, Russia sign over 30 deals during Medvedev visit
RSS Feedback Print Copy URL Large image More English.news.cn | 2015-12-17 21:53:24 | Editor: huaxia
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev meet the press after the 20th China-Russia Prime Ministers' Regular Meeting in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 17, 2015. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- China and Russia signed more than 30 cooperation documents in energy, investment, finance, high technology and other areas during the 20th China-Russia Prime Ministers' Regular Meeting on Thursday.
Energy giants Sinopec and Rosneft signed an MOU on oil and gas projects in eastern Siberia while CNPC and Gazprom inked an agreement on the design and construction of the cross-border section of China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline.
China Development Bank and Russia's state corporation Vnesheconombank (VEB) also signed an agreement on a 10 billion yuan (1.56 billion U.S. dollars) loan.
"The slew of deals signed between China and Russia is a testimony of a higher level of our relationship, and we are determined to ensure their implementation," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said when meeting the press along with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.
With the sluggish global economic recovery, lower commodity prices and downward pressure for economies, China and Russia have faced common challenges for growth, Li said.
"But China and Russia have faced downward pressure on the economy head on," he said, citing increased Chinese commodity imports from Russia and rising bilateral cooperation in energy, equipment, high technology and e-commerce.
Both premiers called on the two countries to find new growth engines.
China proposed joint efforts to set industrial capacity and equipment manufacturing as new areas to power the economy, urging implementation of key cooperation projects and more cooperation in areas including energy, finance, aviation, agriculture and military technology.
Li also proposed carrying out cooperation in oil exploration, development and refineries, and aligning China's development strategies of innovation, mass entrepreneurship and "Made in China 2025" plan with Russia's Development Strategy by 2020.
China is willing to work with Russia to join China's Silk Road Economic Belt initiative with the Russian development strategy as well as the Russia-initiated Eurasian Economic Union, Li said.
Russia and China have made breakthroughs in agricultural cooperation, Medvedev said, praising cooperation documents signed on quarantine inspection requirements on exporting Russian wheat, corn, rice and soybean to China.
Russia hopes to work with China to outline future cooperation and explore new ways and areas for cooperation, Medvedev said, suggesting both sides further practical cooperation in trade and investment, mining resources, oil and gas, nuclear, aerospace, agriculture, finance and military technology.
China and Russia agreed to prepare for a successful China-Russia Media Exchange Year in 2016 and 2017. Li and Medvedev called on the media to contribute to the understanding and friendship of the people in the two countries.
In a joint communique released after the meeting, the two countries pledged to enhance coordination in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and jointly fight terrorism.
They reaffirmed support in political settlement of the Syria issue and the UN's key role. They vowed to maintain peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and play constructive roles in a comprehensive, long-lasting and proper settlement of Iran's nuclear issue, said the communique.
Prior to the meeting, Li held a red-carpet ceremony to welcome Medvedev at the Great Hall of the People.
Russia, China to Sign Deal on Mutual Access to Debt Markets on Dec. 17
Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said that Russia and China will sign a bilateral memorandum on cooperation of two finance ministries.
BEIJING (Sputnik) — Representatives of both Russian and Chinese finance ministries are expected to sign on December 17 a memorandum on mutual access to the debt markets of the two states, Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said Wednesday.
Russian delegation, headed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, is visiting China between December 14 and 17, where a number of intergovernmental agreements are expected to be signed.
"Tomorrow we are signing a bilateral memorandum on cooperation of two [finance] ministries. The main point, I think, [is] the sides' obligations to work on creation of conditions for mutual access of the concerned parties to the debt markets of Russia and China," Storchak told RIA Novosti.
He added that the memorandum would also address the issues of cooperation between the treasuries of the two states.
China is Russia's leading economic partner. In 2014, bilateral trade between the countries amounted to $95 billion. Currently, the two countries are actively cooperating in many fields, most notably in finance, energy, infrastructure and defense.