Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang pushes plan for stronger China-Russia investment and financing ties

China and Russia should deepen their investment cooperation by supporting enterprises to work together on projects, Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang told Russia’s first deputy prime minister, Andrey Belousov, on Monday.

Belousov is in Beijing to take part in the Intergovernmental Russian-Chinese Commission on Investment Cooperation, an agency with the stated goal of reducing the trade barriers and administrative hurdles between the two states and promoting non-energy investment projects. Ding and Belousov co-chaired the meeting.

Ding, who is the Communist Party’s sixth-ranked member, put forward a four-point proposal to deepen Sino-Russian financing ties. The plan calls on the two sides to plan a “new future” for investment cooperation and to guide, support and encourage qualified enterprises in the two countries.

According to the proposal, China and Russia should “open up new prospects for subnational cooperation” and “promote regional complementarity”, in addition to deepening practical cooperation on agriculture and transport infrastructure.

Ding said that nurturing Beijing and Moscow’s comprehensive strategic partnership would benefit the two countries and their people, and the two sides should “jointly open up a new vision for long-term cooperation” and “create a sound environment” for investment cooperation.