The event in Beijing was co-chaired by Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachev and Chairman of the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee Lou Qinjian.
Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachev and Chair of the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee Lou Qinjian conducted the eighth meeting of the Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China. The event took place in Beijing.
According to Konstantin Kosachev, Russia-China interparliamentary ties are playing an increasing role in bilateral strategic interaction. He drew the audience’s attention to the need to update national legislation on security and exchange relevant experience. The Senator emphasised that now the divergence between unipolar and multipolar models of world arrangement had entered a “hot phase.” He said: “Before 2022, there was hope that the multipolar world, favoured by both Russia and China, would come by itself as the most democratic global system meeting the interests of the world’s majority. However, now it is obvious that it will be necessary to fight for global democracy against unipolar dictatorship.”
In addition, Konstantin Kosachev noted opportunistic politicisation of all international institutions and a conflict at the level of values and civilisations. He said: “The world system based on law and the principles of the UN Charter is being dismantled. Attempts are being made to replace it with the ‘rules-based order.’” He pointed out that the striving for total control of the world by the advocates of unipolarity has led to a situation where the North Atlantic Alliance has gone far beyond its borders, and where attempts are being made to create strictly pro-Western blocs in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Konstantin Kosachev believes that in this situation Russia and China are not only acting as one, but above all doing this on behalf of the global majority. “Conducting its special military operation today, Russia is defending not only its interests and the rights of Russians but also the right of people to live as they want. In the same way, China, protecting its principle of one state under powerful Western pressure and against the backdrop of endless provocations, is also upholding the foundations of an order based on law rather than rules,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker also mentioned the issues of information security and digital sovereignty. In his opinion, Russian and Chinese MPs should coordinate their efforts in this area as much as possible. They should do this at legislative level and by promoting common positions at key international venues – the SCO and BRICS.
Lou Qinjian noted the importance of the exchange of views on the prospects of interparliamentary cooperation. It was conducted by Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko and Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee Zhao Leji.
Lou Qinjian recalled that MPs were going to provide legislative support for the decisions of the leaders of both countries.
Federation Council Deputy Speaker Nikolai Zhuravlev talked about the joint drafting of regulations with a view to minimising the impact of sanctions on bilateral and global trade.
He said Russia-China investment cooperation was an example of success. In his opinion, updating the agreement between the two governments on encouraging and mutually protecting capital investment will facilitate a higher level of investment protection and ensure a more stable, transparent and predictable business environment for investors. According to Nikolai Zhuravlev, bilateral transactions occupy a special place in financial cooperation. “About 80 percent of commercial deals between Russia and China are made in roubles and yuan. Mutual use of national payment systems and protected channels for transferring financial information are playing an important role in creating an independent Russia-China infrastructure,” he said.
The Senator also noted the introduction of digital currency. He said it would eventually create an additional opportunity for cross-border transactions.
Other areas of multilateral cooperation that Nikolai Zhuravlev considers important include the implementation of transport and logistics projects, interaction in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and efforts to counter money laundering and the funding of terrorism.
First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Andrey Denisov focused on the interaction between MPs on the international agenda. “Russia and China have identical or close positions on the fundamental issues of the current international order,” he said. In his opinion, both countries note the UN’s universal coordinating role in maintaining global and regional security and stability and oppose arbitrary sanctions pressure and other instruments of wilful political coercion.
The Senator emphasised that Russia and China view the SCO and BRICS as key elements of the international order that is taking shape. Andrey Denisov believes it is necessary to cooperate more closely with a view to creating a full-scale parliamentary dimension as an organic element of the SCO’s all-round cooperation and the integrity of its mechanisms. Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Government and Northern Affairs Andrei Shevchenko told the audience about the links between Russian regions and Chinese provinces. He said that in order to expand regional interaction it was necessary to improve transport connections, including passenger air traffic and road infrastructure.
Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy Inna Svyatenko focused on humanitarian interaction between Russian regions and Chinese provinces. She said they were actively promoting joint educational, scientific and cultural projects.
Inna Svyatenko spoke about cooperation between universities, including profile university associations. She noted the popularity of Chinese in Russia and Russian in China. She said 88,000 university and school students studied Chinese in the 2022–2023 academic year.
The Senator also mentioned prospects for the development of tourism. “We consider it important to expand the geography of trips for Chinese tourists by including new routes to more Russian regions in travel programmes,” she said. Inna Svyatenko also urged the audience to step up the development of sports cooperation.
First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy Ivan Abramov informed the audience about improving the laws on the priority development territories that promote economic advance and about transport infrastructure in the Amur Region.
Chairs of the legislative assemblies of the Primorye Territory and the Irkutsk Region Alexander Rolik and Alexander Vedernikov described the effective cooperation of Russian regions with Chinese provinces in implementing specific projects. Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Alexander Babakov and other Duma deputies also took part in the meeting.