On November 29, 2022, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced at the 4th Russian-Chinese Energy Business Forum that energy trade between China and Russia increased by 64% in monetary terms and by 10% in physical terms.
“China is becoming the largest consumer of Russian energy. This year, trade turnover in the energy sector has grown by 64% compared to last year, in physical terms, deliveries have grown by about 10%,” he stated.
Novak stressed that Russo-Chinese relations are not shaped by changes in external markets. Instead, TAAS reported that Novak said these relations are based on “similar fundamental interests and deep mutual trust and respect.”
He added that Russia and China plan to jointly produce equipment for the energy sector. “China is one of the key manufacturers of equipment in the oil and gas sector. There is already close cooperation on the supply of oil and gas equipment for projects in Russia,” he stated. “We plan to jointly work on the development and production of equipment that can be used both in China and in Russia,” Novak continued.
This latest development shows how much Russo-Chinese relations have strengthened over the last decade. These relations will only strengthen as the Collective West grows more fanatic on the foreign policy front.
Russia and China have historically had chilly relations, but due to the United State’s excessively hawkish foreign policy since the end of the Cold War, these two countries have been compelled to form a de facto alliance to balance against the Collective West.
As the US pursues the wacky policy of “dual containment” — expanding NATO in Russia’s backyard and trying to contain China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific — China and Russia will continue to tighten their relations and build competing institutions to the Collective West.