The Belt and Road Initiative provides new opportunities for trade between China and Russia

Earlier this month, the Grand Ring Line of the Moscow Metro, with the participation of Chinese builders, was officially opened. The Russian news agency Sputnik reported that this is the first time that Moscow and the whole of Russia have introduced foreign companies in the construction of the subway. The project of the world's longest metro line around the city has become another vivid example of Sino-Russian cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

In recent years, China and Russia have continued to promote the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" and the Eurasian Economic Union, and landmark cooperation projects have been steadily advanced: the China Trade Center "Huaming Garden" in Moscow has been completed; Major energy projects such as the China-Russia East Route Natural Gas Pipeline were successfully put into operation; "Binhai No. 1" and "Binhai No. 2" land-sea intermodal international transportation corridors, China-Europe freight trains and other interconnection projects continue to advance...

"Russia's Eurasian Economic Union can form an effective strategic connection with China's Belt and Road Initiative, and provide strategic support for the smooth progress of the Belt and Road Initiative." Lan Qingxin, a professor at the National Institute of Opening-up at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times.

The cooperation project has been fruitful

Spanning Europe and Asia, Russia is located in the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor of the "Belt and Road" and is an important transit country for China-Europe trains. According to Lan Qingxin, from the perspective of geographical location, Russia is a key fulcrum country of the "Belt and Road", and its strategic position is very important.

In recent years, China and Russia have yielded fruitful results in the construction of the "Belt and Road" project. "The two countries have made steady progress in strategic projects in the fields of energy, nuclear energy, aviation, aerospace, and infrastructure, with the Heihe-Blagoveshchensk Highway Bridge being opened to traffic, and Russia's first cross-border railway bridge, the Tongjiang China-Russia Heilongjiang Railway Bridge, being laid and connected." Zhou Liqun, president of the Russia-China Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview with the Global Times. In addition to the above projects, the latest news from the Russian Satellite News Agency shows that on March 21, local time in Moscow, China and Russia signed and issued a joint statement to promote the research and consultation of the new China-Mongolia-Russia natural gas pipeline project.

Strategic alignment stimulates vitality

On the basis of Russia's local cooperation projects, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" and the Eurasian Economic Union have further stimulated the potential of economic and trade cooperation between China and Russia and their surrounding regions.

The members of the Eurasian Economic Union include Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, all of which are important partners of the Belt and Road Initiative. "These countries have formed a series of preferential trade and investment arrangements within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union." Lan Qingxin said, "The Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union have enabled China to join the trade and investment preferences of these countries through strategic docking with Russia. For example, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway to Kyrgyzstan and the China-Belarus industrial park jointly built with Belarus are all major progress made under this strategic docking mechanism. ¡±

Russian State Duma Chairman Volodin said that the Russian parliament regards the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union as one of the priority directions, and is currently actively laying a legislative foundation for this.

Strategic emerging industries have broad prospects

With the deepening of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union, new business opportunities and investment opportunities have emerged in the economic and trade fields of China and Russia.

Lan Qingxin believes that the digital economy, finance, and new energy will become the focus of China's investment and cooperation with Russia in the future. In particular, China and Russia have broad prospects in the construction of a direct settlement system for RMB rubles in energy transactions. Zhou Liqun also admitted