China's Belt and Road Initiative could help Russia's aspirations for the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in deepening bilateral cooperation and facilitate growth, said experts at a seminar during the second China-Russia Exposition.
"In its vision of the Belt and Road initiative, China mentioned the concept of win-win cooperation many times, indicating China's willingness to share the economic interests brought about by cooperation with all participating nations," said T. H. Iudina, an economics professor of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, at a top think-tank seminar during the second China-Russia Exposition in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
The Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 to connect Asian, European and African countries more closely and promote cooperation.
The EAEU is Russia's plan to develop its far eastern region, and it needs China's participation, said B. Larin, a chief expert with the Far East Russian Academy of Science. The integration of the two nations' strategies will promote infrastructure connections and guarantee a safe development environment for the border areas, Larin said. China remained Russia's largest trade partner for a fifth year in 2014, while Russia is China's ninth-largest trade partner.
Bilateral trade rose 6.8 percent from the previous year to a record high of 95.28 billion U.S. dollars in 2014. Twenty years ago, it was less than 7 billion U.S. dollars. The China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair started in 1990, and the China-Russia Exposition was upgraded last year to focus on bilateral cooperation between China and Russia.
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