Page 104 - RusRPTJun24

5.3 FDI
Putin and Xi sign a joint statement on deepening their strategic partnership. President Putin and his entourage of ministers kicked off his new term with a 2-day visit to China on May 16 and 17. Xi and Putin signed a joint statement calling for increased strategic cooperation in a number of fields. The parties also signed ten other cooperation-related documents, including an agreement on creation of a cross-border protection zone for large felines and documents on veterinary and phytosanitary inspections related to Russian exports of pork products and sunchokes. The national news bureaus TASS and Xinhua penned an information exchange agreement.
No major new economic initiatives was published after the meeting. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, China has become Russia’s most important economic partner by far. Russia-China economic relations still mainly involve trade, and tightening Western sanctions have complicated trade in recent months (BOFIT Weekly 20/2024). The investment of Western companies in Russia that was lost after the Ukraine invasion has yet to be compensated for by Chinese investment. While there is in general much uncertainty related to statistics on bilateral figures on direct investment, none of the statistical series indicate a substantial increase in Chinese investment in Russia.
According to the China Global Investment Tracker published by the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation, data collected from media and company reports suggest that China has not made a single significant investment in Russia since 2021.
104 RUSSIA Country Report June 2024 www.intellinews.com