Medvedev and Hu will attend a ceremony to launch the Chinese section of the Russian East Siberia – Pacific oil pipeline.
By Anna Varfolomeeva
BEIJING— (September 27—M4relay) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is in China for a three-day official visit. Trade partnership and enhancement of cooperation in the energy field will be a priority for discussions, according to a Kremlin aide.
“Developing ties with China is one of Russia’s foreign diplomacy priorities,” the president told the People’s Daily. The relationship with China “has never been characterized with such a high level of trust” like now, he said.
“During the scheduled talks in Beijing, the two states’ leaders will discuss in detail the whole range of Russian-Chinese cooperation. The discussions will focus on the further development of trade and economic ties, energy cooperation, trade structure improvements, boosting investment and inter-regional cooperation, as well as issues of ecology and migration,” Sergei Prikhodko, Medvedev’s foreign policy aide, said.
“China is one of Russia’s most active partners in maintaining strategic stability. Both countries promote collective decision-making in non-proliferation and arms control, and the principles of equal and indivisible security for all in missile defense issues.”
The Kremlin aide said Russian-Chinese trade grew more than 56% in the first half of 2010 year-on-year to $25.5 billion, according to the Russian Information Agency (RIA Novosti).
Medvedev will also use this trip to push for expanding the use of national currencies in trade with China, Prikhodko said.
“The role and significance of the Yuan will grow over time, and we hope the same will happen for the ruble,” he said. “When banking cooperation becomes more mature, we will move toward cooperation between financial platforms and exchanges.”
Major Western industrial countries’ rate of economic growth went down again, and the world money-market again entered the phase of increased instability.
In this light, the use of national currencies in trade will mean the end of dependence on the U.S. dollar and the euro. This indicates the weakening confidence in the U.S. dollar as the world’s major reserve currency.
According to RIA Novosti, the countries are reportedly seeking to switch from the dollar to a basket of currencies including the euro, Japanese yen, Chinese Yuan, gold, and a new unified currency of leading Arab oil producing countries.
China is currently at the center of international cooperation – attracting bilateral relations from all four corners of the world – North, South, East and West. There is apparently a scramble for China and no country wants to be left behind. In Africa, Europe, America, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East bilateral cooperation with China is becoming the order of the day. And China deserves this. The country’s unique model of development still makes the rest of the world dazzling.