According to the General Administration of Customs of China, the volume of Sino-Russian trade in the first two months of this year increased by 9.3%, reaching $37 billion.
“Russia is a great state capable of successfully resisting the sanction policies of Western countries, while still benefiting its own economy. We see positive dynamics in the development of the industrial, logistics, energy, and agro-industrial sectors of the economy,” said Petr Popov, President of the National Project Support Fund and former Vice-Governor of Zabaykalsky Krai, in an interview with GORUS.
According to the expert, Western sanctions are unlikely to hinder Russia from developing economic relations with partners from China, the UAE, African countries, and the Middle East.
In late February, news emerged that Chinese banks had stopped accepting payments from Russian banks subject to sanctions. However, even this situation can be overcome.
“Several major Russian banks have opened their branches in China, which greatly facilitates sending payments. For example, VTB through its Shanghai branch has seen no changes in the terms of settlements. From the perspective of local legislation, VTB in Shanghai is an independent Chinese bank conducting transactions between the two countries in both currencies. Even Chinese partners are leaving the top four largest banks in China for settlements with Russia. I am confident that the situation will level off within a few months,” noted Petr Popov.
According to the President of the National Project Support Fund, among the partners from China, there is a good trend – Chinese suppliers independently find banks capable of conducting financial transactions with Russia and open accounts there. Mostly they switch to smaller banks, leaving the top four largest financial organizations in the country (which include the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank).
“We already see that the total turnover in the Far East this year has grown by 14% compared to the same period last year, and by 2.4 times in freight road transport,” Petr Popov noted. “Russia today is pursuing an active policy of economic expansion and developing partnership economic relations. The Russian Export Center plays a significant role in this, supporting Russian businesses in foreign economic activity. I am confident that the positive dynamics will be maintained, and by the end of 2024, a number of significant cooperation agreements will be signed.”
The expert also added that intensive work is currently underway to develop domestic IT products with the aim of maximum import substitution. In April, at the GISEC Dubai 2024 International Information Security Exhibition, Russian IT products in the field of information security developed by RuSiem will be presented.
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