Xi Jinping is financially thorough in supporting Russia instead of being in tune with Putin's military action. So he abstained from the UN sanctions resolution on Russia. Will Xi Jinping 's strategy against Russia weaken the US siege against China?

◆ [Transient heat] China is Russia's largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years

On February 9, this year, the Ministry of Commerce, one of the central government ministries and agencies of China, headed that . So, he released new data saying that "China-Russia trade in 2021 has achieved dramatic development."

According to the report, China-Russia trade volume in 2021 was $ 146,870 million, an increase of 35.9% from the same period of the previous year. This is the highest bilateral trade record between China and Russia so far, and China has been Russia's largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years.

In 2021, the optimization of the China-Russia trade structure was promoted, and bilateral cooperation in areas such as infrastructure investment and construction was further strengthened as well as trade in import and export commodities.

Looking first at imports and exports, in 2021, China-Russia trade in machinery and electrical products reached $ 43.4 billion, of which "exports of automobiles, home appliances and construction machinery from China to Russia" was rapid. It is growing.

For example, Chinese brand cars such as Harver, Sherry, and Geely have recorded record sales in Russia, and Chinese brand smartphones such as Huawei and Xiao Mei are preferred by Russians.

In the field of e-commerce, it increased by 187% in the first 11 months of 2021.

Currently, China and Russia have developed a "Roadmap for the High Quality Development of China-Russia Goods and Services Trade" and are working on a plan to achieve the target of $ 200 billion in trade between the two countries. ..

Last November, relevant sectors of China and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on investment cooperation in the field of digital economy, encouraging and supporting cooperation between the two industries, and promoting digital empowerment, green empowerment and innovation. Both sides said, "Building new growth points such as 5G, biopharmaceuticals, green low carbon, smart cities, strengthening docking of policies, industries, projects, energy minerals, agriculture and forestry development, industrial production, telecommunications, etc. -Further strengthen science and technology innovation cooperation, such as further deepening downstream cooperation, promoting mutual installation of industrial complexes such as machinery and electricity, improving the level of infrastructure hardware and software connections, and deepening the supply chain of industrial chains. That was agreed.

At the same time, more and more Russian agricultural products are on the Chinese table.

Next, in terms of infrastructure investment and construction, the conditions for opening the "Kurokawa-Heilongjiang Vishensk" boundary river road bridge on the China-Russia border have been met, and the Tongjiang-Russia-Heilongjiang Railway Bridge (the river is the city name). The line with was opened.

Recently, 10 new subway stations have been built and put into operation on the Moscow Metro Grand Circular Line, and the southwestern section project of the third transit loop line built by a Chinese company has officially opened. Traffic conditions have also improved significantly in some areas of the western and southern parts of Moscow.

Moreover, accelerating socio-economic development in Siberia and the Far East is one of Russia's strategic challenges. Russia plans to actively promote regional cooperation to attract China's investment and technology and expand global transportation and trade routes. Russia has now begun modernizing and upgrading the Baikal Amur Railway and the Trans-Siberian Railway. By 2024, it plans to increase capacity by 1.5 times by increasing the volume of freight and shortening the transportation time.

◆ [Transheat] Energy problem that Xi Jinping focuses on

The Ministry of Commerce has stated that energy cooperation is of paramount importance in the practical cooperation between China and Russia.

According to the General Administration of Customs of China, in 2021, China's imports of energy resources from Russia were 33.29 billion yuan, an increase of 47.4% from the same period of the previous year, accounting for 65.3% of the total imports from Russia. Russia is China's number one energy importer, as well as the second crude oil importer, and maintains its position as the number one electricity importer.

Xi Jinping participated online with Putin at the "3rd China-Russia Energy Business Forum" held in November 2021 and stated that "energy cooperation is the most important direction of practical cooperation between China and Russia." Congratulations on. Only the main points of the letter are described below.

● The remarkable achievements of energy cooperation between the two countries prove the possibility of widespread development of comprehensive strategic cooperation partnerships in the new era of China and Russia. China is ready to work with Russia to build closer energy partnerships to maintain energy security and tackle global climate change challenges.

● Over the past year, major cooperation projects covering the China-Russia crude oil pipeline, the Middle-Russia eastern natural gas pipeline, Yamaru Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), and Tawan Nuclear Power Station Units 1 to 4 have been operating steadily. New construction starts are proceeding smoothly, including the southern section project of the eastern China-Russia natural gas pipeline, the construction of Tianwan Nuclear Power Station Units 7 and 8, and the construction of Xudabao Nuclear Power Station Units 3 and 4.

● The results of a series of practical cooperation will not only provide sufficient stimulation to China-Russia energy trade, but will also help both countries achieve their carbon-free and carbon-neutral targets and jointly address global climate change challenges. It helps inject new stimuli to achieve sustainable development of humankind.

● China and Russia have enormous potential for low-carbon energy cooperation, and Russian companies are focusing on providing consumers with low-carbon green energy in line with the long-term vision of energy development in both countries. I have it.

(This is the end of the quote from the Ministry of Commerce report.)

◆ [Economic heat] Economic exchange promised by China and Russia on February 4th

On February 4, Putin visited China to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics and met with Xi Jinping. After the meeting, China and Russia issued a joint statement and signed 15 cooperation agreements.

Due to the wide range of agreements, here we will focus on Russia's economic sanctions, focusing on the largest areas of energy resources that China is likely to supplement and support in the future.

First of all, in the agreement, paragraphs 12 to 14 are written as follows.

12. "China Oil and Natural Gas Group Co., Ltd. and Russia Natural Gas Industry Co., Ltd. (Gazprom) Far East Gas Trading Talks"

13. "Supplementary talks to guarantee oil supply and crude oil purchase and sales at refineries in western China"

14. "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Low Carbon Development Field between China Oil and Natural Gas Group Co., Ltd. and Russia Oil Co., Ltd."

However, this alone does not tell us what it means, so what exactly does it mean? <100 million tons of oil on China's "International Natural Gas Network (Website)"! 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas! Peter China has signed a super-large contract> to introduce information based on. The outline is shown below.

Not only did Petro China win a large contract to import 100 million tonnes of oil, but it also increased the total amount of natural gas imported from Russia from 38 billion cubic meters (1 = 1000 liters) to 48 billion cubic meters. A rough estimate is that the two agreements signed by PetroChina, Gazprom and Rosneft will include more than 100 billion yuan (about 1.8 trillion yen).

Regarding the import of natural gas, on February 3, Peter China and Gazprom signed a sales contract for natural gas in the Far East of China and Russia. This is another important result of cooperation between China and Russia in the pipeline natural gas trade after the production investment and gas supply of the natural gas pipeline in the eastern part of China and Russia in December 2019. China and Russia are reported to supply China with 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas each year since signing a 30-year natural gas supply agreement in 2014.

According to the long-term natural gas supply agreement, Russia's Gazprom will supply 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Peter China via a pipeline via the China-Russia Far East Line.

After the start of production of the China-Russia Far East Line, the total annual supply of pipeline natural gas from Russia to China will increase from 38 billion cubic meters to 48 billion cubic meters, an increase of about 26% from the current supply. ing.

Regarding oil imports, on February 4, Peter China and Rosneft signed a supplementary agreement on the sale and purchase of crude oil to secure oil supplies from refineries in western China. According to the report, Rosneft will supply China with 100 million tons of oil via Kazakhstan for a contract period of 10 years.

The above is the specific content of China's economic cooperation with Russia on energy resources based on China's "international natural gas network."

In this way, China is "economically hot" or "economic heat " with respect to Russia.

◆ [Transheat] Impact of SWIFT sanctions against Russia

China has "abstained" with regard to UN sanctions against Russia, but [Keiho] is not limited to trade. Regarding financial transactions, there is a section that Xi Jinping thinks that the sanctions against Russia in Europe and the United States have been "squeezed!".

It aims to accelerate the application of the digital RMB to the real economy without going through SWIFT, and the other is a strategy to expand the non-dollar economic zone.

As I wrote in the column

That is why the UAE (United Arab Emirates) has recently abstained from the UN Security Council resolution on Russia's economic sanctions.

In January 2016, Xi Jinping visited Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc., but in fact, he is already trying to simulate a payment system assuming withdrawal from SWIFT in 2015.

"SWIFT, People's Bank of China Clearing Center, Cross-Border Interbank Settlement Limited Liability Company (CIPS), China Settlement Association, People's Bank of China Digital Currency Research Institute" jointly established "Financial Gateway Information Service Co., Ltd." and headquartered in Beijing. I'm trying to escape from the SWIFT system little by little.

Of course, bilateral currency swap agreements have also been strengthened, and according to statistics from China's central bank and tax office, the ratio of yuan settlement to China-Russia trade is as low as 17%, but in the future it will be yuan. Xinhuanet reports that it will increase the proportion of transactions in the currency of the partner country.

◆ [Military Cold] Ukrainian Foreign Minister asks Foreign Minister Wang Yi to mediate a ceasefire

Regarding the [military cold] between China and Russia, as I wrote in the column on March 1, Ukraine China's Foreign Minister has extensively reported that Russia's Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi that he "expects China's arbitration to achieve a cessation of war."

From this, it can be said that [Junleng] is clear, and that China's attitude toward Russia is undoubtedly [Junleng] .

◆ [Military Cold and Heat] But Xi Jinping is afraid of "Democratization of Russia"

President Biden of the United States has said that he will first defeat Russia and then strengthen the siege of China, but Xi Jinping may decide to win the Chinese economy by [Junleng] .

Since India has also abstained from sanctions against Russia, there is a possibility that the siege against China based on the Indo-Pacific strategy, especially the Quad (US-Japan-Australia-India) concept, will collapse.

However, there is one thing that Xi Jinping is most afraid of.

It is that the Russian people stand up and drag Putin out of the presidency. If that happens, that will shake the one-party rule of the Chinese Communist Party.

The statement "Do not allow the Velvet Revolution" is included in the joint statement between China and Russia on February 4. We have to pay attention to here.

Both of them are afraid of the "voice of the people".

Then there is one thing we can do.

It is to solidarity with Russians in countries other than Russia, calling on the Russian people to "oppose the war" and urging them to "overthrow the Putin administration." It may shed blood again, but now is the age of the Internet. I want the Russian people to stand up by calling on the net. If Putin goes down and another democratic person becomes President of Russia, it is undeniable that relations with Xi Jinping will weaken and China's one-man win will disappear. I would like to expect this possibility.

(This column is reprinted from the Global Research Institute on Chinese Issues.)