JAKARTA - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin departed for a two-day visit to China. Mishustin plans to hold talks with President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang who are expected to focus on economic and technology cooperation despite pressure from the West.
Mishustin is scheduled to hold routine meetings of heads of government with Li in the city of Hangzhou on Monday, and will leave for Beijing on Tuesday for discussions with Xi, the TASS news agency reported, citing Russian government press services.
The last meeting of heads of government between China and Russia took place in Moscow in August 2024, in which Li praised the "new spirit" and "vitality" in bilateral relations.
The Kremlin considers Mishustin's visit to China "very important", a spokesman for Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, but declined to say whether President Vladimir Putin would send a message to Xi through the Russian prime minister, reported the Interfax news agency.
Putin and Xi signed a "infinity" partnership in February 2022, just before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Moscow has turned to Beijing to reduce the impact of Western sanctions, highlighting record bilateral trade, increased settlements in yuan, and deepening energy cooperation.
The US-China scene of trade and technology under US President Donald Trump, which strained relations between Washington and Beijing, has also prompted Moscow and Beijing to strengthen cross-border trade to counter Western pressure.
However, China-Russia trade has declined in recent months, which Russia's Minister of Industry and Trade, Anton Alikhanov, said was caused by "external" economic pressure and "market saturation" of Chinese products in Russia.
China's exports to Russia in a yuan denomination in September recorded its biggest decline in seven months - a drop of 21% compared to the previous year - according to Chinese customs data.
However, Chinese imports from Russia grew again in September with an increase of 3.8% compared to a 17.8% contraction in the previous month.
Mishustin's negotiations in China are expected to focus on trade and economic relations, transportation and industrial cooperation, increasing energy partnerships, and expanding collaboration in advanced technology and agriculture, TASS reports.
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