Mihail Mishustin, Photo: Kommersant Photo Agency / ddp USA / Profimedia
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin left on Monday for a two-day visit to China, where he is scheduled for talks with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, which will focus on economic and technological cooperation, despite pressure from the West, reports Reuters.
Mishustin is scheduled to meet with Li in the city of Hangzhou on Monday at the level of heads of government, and on Tuesday he will go to Beijing for talks with Xi, the TASS agency said, citing the press service of the Russian government.
The last head-of-government meeting between China and Russia took place in Moscow in August 2024, where Li praised the “new strength” and “vitality” of bilateral relations.
The Kremlin attached “very high” importance to Mishustin's visit to China, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday, but declined to say whether President Vladimir Putin would send a message to Xi through the Russian premier, Interfax news agency reported.
Putin and Xi signed a “borderless” partnership in February 2022, just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Moscow has turned to Beijing to soften the impact of Western sanctions, resulting in record bilateral trade, increased yuan transactions and deepening energy cooperation.
Clashes between the US and China over trade and technology under the presidency of Donald Trump, which have strained relations between Washington and Beijing, have encouraged both Moscow and Beijing to strengthen cross-border trade to counter Western pressure.
However, trade between China and Russia has declined in recent months, which Russian Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov attributed to “external” economic pressure and “market saturation” of Chinese products in Russia.
China's yuan-denominated exports to Russia fell in September by the biggest drop in seven months, down a whopping 21 percent from the same period last year, according to Chinese customs data.
But China's imports from Russia returned to growth in September, advancing 3.8 percent from a 17.8 percent decline a month earlier.
Mishustin's talks in China are expected to focus on trade and economic relations, transport and industrial cooperation, strengthened energy partnerships and expanded collaboration in advanced technology and agriculture, according to TASS.
