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Russia, China sign four billion dollars of trade deals
2007-03-27
China and Russia signed four billion dollars' worth of trade deals on Tuesday during a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao focused on securing new energy sources. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw the deals on the second day of Hu's visit to Russia. "For Russia, China has always been one of the most important economic partners in the world, and throughout recent years our business ties have steadily grown and strengthened," Putin said, speaking at the opening of China's biggest-ever trade fair in a foreign country. The presidents oversaw the signing of 21 contracts, including an agreement by Russian state oil company Rosneft to supply jet fuel to China and long-term export contracts for Russian steel products. Among the biggest contracts was a 460-million-dollar (345-million-euro) agreement by Russia's Novolipetsk Steel to supply 94,000 tonnes of steel to Chinese electrical parts maker Tebian Electric Apparatus Stock from 2007-2011. Nearly 200 Chinese companies showcased products at the fair, which Putin used to underline Russia's interest in developing its own high-tech sector with Chinese help. "We are particularly interested in exhibitions devoted to innovative and information products, aviation, aeronautics and energy, the nuclear industry," Putin said. China's chief interest in Russia, meanwhile, is securing more oil and gas to meet its huge energy needs. The Chinese president took a step in that direction on Monday by securing an agreement for increased deliveries of Russian oil by rail. Those deliveries should jump from the 11 million tonnes shipped in 2006 to 15 million tonnes per year, Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin told reporters. China received a total of 15 million tonnes of Russian oil last year, and analysts say it is eager to secure guarantees for more. Hu continues his energy quest Tuesday evening with a visit to Tatarstan, a mainly Muslim province in central Russia that has extensive oil reserves. He will meet there on Wednesday with the region's leader Mintimir Shaimiyev. Other agreements were signed between Russian and Chinese banks and space agencies. Meeting Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov on Monday morning, Hu said: "Both sides should use this chance to strengthen trust in each other in all ways, to deepen practical cooperation." Hu and Putin also talked up diplomatic ties between their countries, which have taken closely aligned positions in talks meant to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and stem Iran's nuclear ambitions. In a joint declaration on Monday, the two presidents said the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme "should be resolved exclusively in a peaceful way," and welcomed the "positive dynamic" in six-party talks aimed at curbing North Korea's nuclear programme. But there were grumbles in Russia's press about the fast growth of Chinese imports to Russia. According to Russian customs service statistics, Russian exports to China grew by 21 percent last year to equal 16 billion dollars, while Chinese imports to Russia grew 80 percent to reach 13 billion dollars. "Russia... can't be happy that it has nothing to offer except raw materials and weapons," the RBK business daily said. Analyst Timofei Bordachev, of the journal Russia in Global Affairs, commented that "while the price of oil is high, Russia has no interest in developing its industrial sectors such as cars, aviation, or even arms and is able to play in the same weight category as China."
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