Translated material
Deep about high
The heads of government of Russia and China will discuss the development of subsoil and the conquest of the Moon
Today, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov arrives in Beijing for the next - already the eleventh - meeting of the heads of government of Russia and China, as well as to participate in events within the framework of the Year of Russia in China. It is expected that during the negotiations almost all issues of trade and economic cooperation will be discussed, and the Russian side will focus on improving the structure of mutual trade turnover and more active development of investment and innovation interaction. The participants in the negotiations will also not ignore the problems of cooperation in the fuel and energy sector.The fact that these issues will be the focus of the negotiations between Mikhail Fradkov and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao became clear following the meetings held in Beijing and Shanghai by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, who arrived in the Celestial Empire on Sunday to prepare for the meeting of prime ministers. However, these are the problems that the parties discuss every year. Those who constantly monitor the development of Russian-Chinese contacts sometimes even experience a “déjà vu” effect. For example, the parties constantly talk about the shameful structure of trade turnover for Russia, but it is only getting worse. The share of mechanical and technical products in the volume of Russian exports to China has already decreased to 1.3%, with a constant increase in supplies of raw materials, primarily crude oil. The Chinese are reluctant to buy Russian industrial products. And not because they take what is better in Western countries. Simply, over the years of economic reforms and by attracting foreign investment to the country in volumes that Russia had never dreamed of, they themselves learned to produce what they could previously buy abroad if necessary. And this trend cannot but alarm Russian manufacturers of mechanical and technical products who want to develop the promising Chinese market. “The level of Chinese mechanical engineering has risen greatly in recent years, and Russian enterprises must compete in our market,” said Deputy Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Wu Yi during negotiations with Alexander Zhukov. According to her, China is increasing its industrial power at the expense of foreign companies. “In 2005, among enterprises importing machinery and technical equipment, 76% were companies with foreign capital,” she said.
However, Russian power equipment is still at a premium in China. And in this market, Russian companies may well be competitive. Power Machines, for example, is negotiating the supply of turbines and generators for the Weijiamao Thermal Power Plant. The same can be said about Russian nuclear engineering. The Atomstroyexport company is building the first stage (two units) of the Tianwan NPP and expects to agree on the construction of not only the remaining two units, but also on the construction of other nuclear power plants. However, not everything is smooth here. Due to the state of Russian industry, which went through difficult times in the 90s, the delivery dates for the blocks were postponed more than once. Thus, it was planned that the first block would be put into commercial operation in April 2004, but it has not yet been put into operation (it is expected that this will happen in the spring of 2007). The delivery of the second block is also delayed. In addition, there were problems with setting up the equipment of the first unit.
Because of all these problems, it will not be easy for Russia to persuade its Chinese partners to continue cooperation, especially since competitors from a number of leading countries are not sleeping. As a source in the Russian delegation accompanying Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov admitted, “further lag behind the schedule for commissioning of the first unit leads to a decrease in the Chinese side’s interest in continuing cooperation with Russian organizations in the construction of the second stage of the nuclear power plant.” However, nuclear scientists hope for the best.
Russia is among the world leaders not only in the use of peaceful nuclear energy, but also in the exploration of outer space. Mikhail Fradkov and Wen Jiabao are unlikely to avoid this topic, especially since both sides are interested in space cooperation: Russia receives funding for a number of promising projects, China receives new technologies. As the head of Roscosmos, Anatoly Perminov, told reporters, the priority is joint work on the exploration of the Moon. It is planned to deliver a lunar rover to the Earth's satellite and collect soil. The project is scheduled for implementation in 2010-2011 (already next year the Chinese plan to make an unmanned flight around the Moon with the assistance of Russia).
And yet, the main thing that China wants to receive from Russia today is energy resources: oil, gas, electricity. This will also be discussed at the negotiations between Mikhail Fradkov and Wen Jiabao. It is unlikely that the Chinese side will not ask the Russian side about the exact timing of the construction of the Russia-China oil pipeline and the prospects for the construction of the gas pipeline.
As Alexander Zhukov reported, following the meeting between the prime ministers of Russia and China, 17 documents are expected to be signed. Among them are agreements on the regime of the Russian-Chinese state border, on the encouragement and mutual protection of investments, a memorandum of understanding between the Federal Atomic Energy Agency and the Committee on Defense Science, Technology and Industry of the People's Republic of China on the development of medium- and long-term cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy.
The Russian Ministry of Economic Development and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce will sign a memorandum on the completion of the development program for Russian-Chinese trade and economic cooperation for 2006-2010, as well as an action plan to stimulate bilateral trade in machinery and technical products for 2007-2008. RAO UES of Russia and the State Grid Corporation of China must record on paper the basic principles for implementing the project for large-scale export of electricity from Russia to China (they will also sign a contract for the purchase and sale of electricity as part of the first stage of the project). The Russian-Chinese Business Council and the Chinese Industrial Investment Development and Planning Association will conclude an agreement on the creation of a Russian-Chinese investor club.