Conversation

05.28.24

The Future According to Xi and Putin

Maria Repnikova, Evan Medeiros & more
On May 16 and 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a state visit to China, where he met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Xi has stood closely by Putin’s side since their announcement of the “no limits” partnership, and this does not look likely...

The War in Ukraine and China-Russia Relations

Paul Haenle, Amy Chew & more from Carnegie China
After more than one year of conflict, the Russia-Ukraine War continues to drag on. In May, China’s Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs, Li Hui, traveled throughout European capitals to discuss the potential for a “political settlement” of...

Conversation

04.05.23

As Macron Arrives in Beijing, What’s Next for Europe and China?

Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova, Frans-Paul van der Putten & more
One year after the EU-China Summit of April 2022—famously described as a “dialogue of the deaf” by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell—relations between Europe and China remain tense and further complicated by China’s ongoing stance towards Russia...

Conversation

03.22.23

Xi Jinping Goes to Moscow

Ryan Hass & Philipp Ivanov
On Wednesday, Xi Jinping returned to Beijing from Moscow following a three-day state visit at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the pair have met dozens of times in the past decade, this week’s talks have drawn unprecedented...

Conversation

03.03.23

As China’s Leaders Gather in Beijing, Here’s What to Watch

Qiheng Chen, Michelle Mengsu Chang & more
As delegates gather in Beijing for the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the annual meetings known as the “Two Sessions” that set the tone and direction of China’s governance and policy, we asked...

Conversation

04.14.22

Europe’s China Policy Has Taken a Sharp Turn. Where Will It Go Next?

Rogier Creemers, Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova & more
In their first such meeting in nearly two years, representatives of the European Union and Chinese government met on April 1 for a virtual summit. The conversations took place against the backdrop of not only unprecedented unity among the members of...

Conversation

04.07.22

What Does Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine Mean for China-Russia Relations?

Yun Sun, Philipp Ivanov & more
As Russia piles up casualties in Ukraine while its economy collapses at home, the democratic world appears—at least for now—more united than ever. Russian firms are scrambling to adjust to the country’s status as an international pariah, while big...

Viewpoint

03.21.22

‘I’ve Forgotten How to Kneel in Front of You!’

Geremie R. Barmé
It started with a simple message to his parents. Russian forces were invading Ukraine and, in case something happened to him, Wang Jixian, a computer programmer based in Odessa, decided he had better record a few words addressed to his parents on...

Viewpoint

03.12.22

Wang Jixian: A Voice from The Other China, but in Odessa

Geremie R. Barmé
“Hello, everyone. This is Jixian in Odessa. Just checking in to let you know that I’m okay; I’m still alive.” This is the way that Wang Jixian, a 37-year-old software engineer originally from Beijing, starts most of his daily vlog updates posted...

Conversation

03.02.22

China’s Calculus on the Invasion of Ukraine

Paul Haenle, Bonnie S. Glaser & more
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the response from much of the international community has been swift and coordinated, with sanctions, shipments of armaments, and loud condemnation. China, however, has stayed markedly apart. What does...

China-Russia Relations at the Dawn of the Biden Era

Paul Haenle, Andrew S. Weiss & more from Carnegie China
While U.S.-China and U.S.-Russia relations have steadily deteriorated, China-Russia cooperation has continued to strengthen. Although both nations have found a common adversary in the United States, any divergence of Russian or Chinese interests...

The Korean Peninsula after the U.S. Elections

Paul Haenle, Alexander Gabuev & more from Carnegie China
The result of the upcoming U.S. presidential election will directly impact how the United States, China, and Russia approach issues on the Korean Peninsula. How would a second Trump or first Biden administration deal with North Korea? How do...

Viewpoint

07.27.20

Pandemic Responses Suffer from Common Ailments

William C. Summers
As the world continues to reel from the COVID-19 pandemic, the onslaught of new developments, disrupted routines, and fast-evolving medical research and advice trap us in a kind of eternal present. Each day feels unprecedented. But, at least since...

Are China and Russia Getting Too Close for Comfort?

Paul Haenle, Dmitri Trenin & more from Carnegie China
Discussion of U.S.-China-Russia relations often focuses on how American policy is driving Moscow and Beijing closer together. This analysis, however, ignores important factors limiting cooperation between China and Russia and preventing the two...

Viewpoint

02.22.19

‘We’re Very Sexy People’: How the U.S. Miscalculated Its Allure to China

Sergey Radchenko
The Sino-Vietnamese War is rarely remembered or discussed today. But 40 years ago, the war appeared to herald a tectonic shift in regional and global politics and helped forge a close, more trusting relationship between the leader of the free world...

China’s Shift to a More Assertive Foreign Policy

Paul Haenle & Shi Yinhong from Carnegie China
Shi points to two important turning points in China’s shift to a more assertive foreign policy: the 2008 global financial crisis, which made it clear that China’s economic development was an important engine for global growth; and Xi Jinping’s rise...

Viewpoint

12.21.18

A Look Back at China in 2018

Kyle Hutzler
In 2018, the outlook for China regarding its politics, economy, and relationship with the United States darkened considerably. The removal of presidential term limits and Xi Jinping’s interactions with the Trump administration prompted rare...

Features

11.28.18

Beijing’s Long Struggle to Control Xinjiang’s Mineral Wealth

Judd C. Kinzley
The Silk Road Economic Belt—the overland component of Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—promises to bind China to Central Asia and beyond through a new infrastructural network. Connecting through China’s far western Xinjiang...

Is the U.S. Driving China and Russia Together?

Paul Haenle, Dmitri Trenin & more from Carnegie China
As U.S. relations with China and Russia deteriorate under the Trump administration, bilateral relations between Moscow and Beijing grow stronger. A “Cold War” between the U.S. and China has not yet begun, Trenin and Gabuev agree, but the two sides...

China and the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review

Zhao Tong & David Santoro from Carnegie China
The Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, released earlier this year, emphasized the growing threat of nuclear competition in the Asia-Pacific, specifically with reference to Russia, North Korea, and China. In this podcast, Tong Zhao, of...

China Has Decided Russia Is Too Risky an Investment

Maximilian Hess
Foreign Policy
On May 4, the planned investment by the Chinese company CEFC China Energy into Russian state oil giant Rosneft fell apart, eight months after it was first announced.

Putin’s Fourth Term

Paul Haenle & Alexander Gabuev from Carnegie China
Vladimir Putin was elected to his fourth term as president of Russia on March 18, 2018. His continued leadership has important implications for the international community, including China.

US Take Note: Chinese, Russian Militaries Are Closer Than You Think, China’s Defence Minister Says

Kinling Lo
South China Morning Post
The United States should be aware of the close military ties between Beijing and Moscow, China’s defence minister said during a visit to Russia, which has been facing international isolation over the killing of a former spy in Britain.

Putin to Visit China as Leaders Consolidate Power at Home

James Griffiths
CNN
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China later this year, for his first meetings with senior Chinese officials since being elected for a fourth term.

China Energy Group Bonds Crash after Detention Report

Lucy Hornby and Archie Zhang
Financial Times
Bonds of mysterious Chinese energy firm CEFC crashed on Thursday amid reports that its chairman Ye Jianming had been detained, complicating its deal to buy a $9bn stake in Russian oil company Rosneft.

An Indian-Russian Supersonic Missile Could Be a Problem for China

Nyshka Chandran
CNBC
BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India and Russia, has developed what it calls the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile. The namesake rocket may now be exported globally — a potentially concerning development for the world’s second-...

China Land Grab on Lake Baikal Raises Russian Ire

Charles Clover and Archie Zhang
Financial Times
A sleepy tourist town on the shores of Siberia’s Lake Baikal has become an unlikely lightning rod among Russian nationalists after Chinese investors bought up properties on the town’s lakefront.

Rosneft Deal Boosts Russia-China Relationship

Henry Foy
Financial Times
Russia’s state-run oil group Rosneft has agreed to supply its new partner CEFC China Energy with almost 61m tonnes of oil over the next five years, strengthening the most high-profile corporate link in the burgeoning relationship between Moscow and...

Exclusive: Russia’s Rosneft Aims for Big Boost in Oil Exports to China - Sources

Vladimir Soldatkin, Gleb Gorodyankin
Reuters
Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft (ROSN.MM) wants to boost its supplies of oil to China through Kazakhstan to as much as 18 million tonnes (36,000 bpd) per year from around 10 million tonnes in 2017, three industry sources said on Friday.

Lankov: Russia, China Nearing N. Korea Limit

CNN
North Korea watcher Andrei Lankov tells CNN both Russia and China are coming close to their own red line concerning North Korea.

China and Russia Warn the U.S. Not to Seek North Korean Regime Change

Ting Shi and David Tweed
Bloomberg
In supporting a watered-down version of North Korea sanctions, China and Russia had a stern warning for the U.S.: Don’t try to overthrow Kim Jong Un’s regime.
08.10.17

Comparing Recent NGO Laws in Russia and China

Elizabeth Plantan
Over the last several years, Russia and China have developed strikingly parallel laws on the management of foreign NGOs and foreign support of domestic civil society. While regular visitors to this site are familiar with the 2017 Foreign NGO Law in...

Viewpoint

07.09.17

Why Won’t China Help With North Korea? Remember 1956

Sergey Radchenko
President Donald J. Trump’s short-lived honeymoon with Chinese Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping is over. On June 29, the U.S. imposed sanctions on a Chinese bank, a Chinese shipping company, and two Chinese nationals, all accused of helping...

The China-Russia Summit Will Focus on North Korea – but It’s Really about Western Influence in the Region

Independent
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi makes an official visit to Russia on Thursday and Friday for meetings with key officials, including his counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The timing, which coincides with the Nato and G7 summits of Western powers,...

Changing Trump Views toward Russia, China Worry Some Allie

ABC
Once soft on Russia and hard on China, President Donald Trump rapidly reversed course in the last weeks, concluding there’s more business to be done with Beijing than with Moscow.

Trump Dumps Russia, Woos China Instead

CNN
This month, during which Trump administration has stepped up US military action in Syria and Afghanistan as he looks to reassert US power, Trump said that “we’re not getting along with Russia at all, we may be at an all-time low.” He and Chinese...

What Would Closer U.S.-Russia Relations Mean for China?

Paul Haenle, Andrew S. Weiss & more from Carnegie China
The Trump administration has spurred a debate in the United States on how to best manage the complex bilateral relationship with Russia. Paul Haenle sat down with Carnegie scholars Andrew Weiss, Paul Stronski, and Alexander Gabuev on the sidelines...

Viewpoint

02.27.17

Back to the Jungle?

Zhang Boshu
The recent election of Donald J. Trump as the president of the United States is likely to have a profound effect on world history. The issue is not the controversies raised by Trump’s character, personality, abilities, and preferences, but rather...

‘Friends Forever’? China Wary of Rex Tillerson Wooing Away Russia

Tom Phillips
Guardian
Trump will have close ties to Moscow via its Secretary of State, but relations with Beijing are frosty. Could Sino-Russian ties be under threat?

Conversation

09.01.16

What Can We Expect from China at the G20?

Sophie Richardson, Joanna Lewis & more
On September 4-5, heads of the world’s major economies will meet in the southeastern city of Hangzhou for the G20 summit. The meeting represents “the most significant gathering of world leaders in China’s history,” according to The New York Times...

China and Russia to Hold Joint Drills in South China Sea

BBC
The announcement follows a ruling by an international tribunal earlier this month that rejected China’s claims in the region.

Russia Stalls China’s $1 Billion Hydropower Loan for Mongolia

Michael Kohn
Bloomberg
The Kremlin said the hydropower project in northern Mongolia could threaten Lake Baikal 580 kilometers downstream.

View from Moscow: China’s Westward March

Paul Haenle & Dmitri Trenin from Carnegie China
China and Russia are solidifying their bilateral relationship as the former looks westward and the latter turns to its east borders. In this podcast with Paul Haenle, Dmitri Trenin discusses the conditions that are leading to stronger China-Russian...

Backed Into A Corner: Friendless Beijing Seeks Moscow's Support In South China Sea

Tim Daiss
Forbes
China and Russia called for settlement of the dispute based on negotiation and consultation.

Environment

04.20.16

Book: ‘Black Dragon River’—Russia’s Wild Window into China

from chinadialogue
Russia’s Far East is supposedly a strategically important area for President Vladimir Putin’s administration, with the government repeatedly declaring that development of the remote territory is one of its top priorities. But, as any Russian expert...

Invisible Bridges: Life Along the Chinese-Russian Border

New Yorker
Is the new friendship between Russia and China real?

Invisible Bridges

Peter Hessler, photo by Davide...
New Yorker
Over the past two centuries, there have been periodic tensions between Russia and China, including some serious border conflicts, and historically Russia has usually held the upper hand. But nowadays, at the personal level, Monteleone notices a...

Postcard

01.18.16

A People’s Friendship

James Palmer
It takes a brave man to jump off a moving train for the sake of a sale, but the clothes hawkers had the easy courage of men who did this on the regular. I watched as they leapt off the front carriage as the train chugged into a station with no stop...

Can China and Russia Co-operate in Central Asia?

Nyshka Chandran
CNBC
Moscow has traditionally been skeptical of Beijing's expanding influence in an area that it considers its own backyard.

Features

09.14.15

Sino-Russian Trade After a Year of Sanctions

Alexander Gabuev from Carnegie Moscow Center
After a year of intense flirtation, the Sino-Russian relationship is beginning to look like a one-sided love affair. Indeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China last week—his first since the United States and European Union enacted...

Conversation

09.02.15

What Is China’s Big Parade All About?

Pamela Kyle Crossley, Richard Bernstein & more
On September 3, China will mark the 70th anniversary of its World War II victory over Japan with a massive parade involving thousands of Chinese troops and an arsenal of tanks, planes, and missiles in a tightly choreographed march across Tiananmen...

Why Russia’s Turn to China is a Mirage

Björn Düben
Reuters
Chinese companies provide Russian companies with technology which they cannot access due to sanctions, and Chinese banks are a source of loans for Russian businesses.

China and Russia: The World's New Superpower Axis?

Emma Graham-Harrison, Alec Luhn, Shaun...
Guardian
Russia and China are the ever-presents, a powerful pairing whose interests coincide more often than not.

Outcry in Russia over China land lease

Kathrin Hille
Financial Times
Plans to hand a stretch of remote Siberian territory to Chinese investors triggers protests in Russia, underlining how the relationship between both countries is undermined by deep-rooted distrust.

In North Korea: Wonder & Terror

Ian Buruma from New York Review of Books
The northeast of China used to be called Manchuria. Another name was “the cockpit of Asia.” Many wars were fought there. A French priest who traveled through the region in the 1920s wrote: “Although it is uncertain where God created paradise, we can...

China, Russia Prepare $2 Billion Agricultural Investment Fund

Chuin-Wei Yap
Wall Street Journal
The fund will develop agricultural projects in the two countries and set up a free-trade zone between their key farming belts.

Chinese Diplomat Tells West to Consider Russia’s Security Concerns over Ukraine

Sui-Lee Wee
Reuters
China's ambassador to Belgium urged Western powers to "abandon the zero-sum mentality" with Russia.

Conversation

02.27.15

Are China and Russia Forging a New Ideological Bloc?

Jacqueline N. Deal, Wu Jianmin & more
With evidence of ties strengthening between Beijing and Moscow—over energy contracts, the handling of the Ukraine, and their diplomats' stance toward outside interference in internal affairs, especially if it's perceived as coming from...

The China-Russia NGO Crackdown

Julia Famularo
Diplomat
Authorities in both countries apparently aim to cripple NGOs with foreign patrons or partners.