Is China interested in EEU?

China and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) may begin negotiations on a cooperation agreement in the near future, the Ambassador of Russia to China, Andrei Denisov, said.

The leaders of Russia and China signed an agreement on the conjugation of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road Economic Belt in May 2015 during the visit of the Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow.

The diplomat stressed that cooperation in this area is built on two stages. "The first stage is the collective level - the interaction between the EEU and the Eurasian Economic Commission with China," RIA Novosti cited him as saying.

"It is about the expected launch of negotiations between the sides on a partnership agreement. This is a traditional regulatory framework that exists everywhere in the world, where we are discussing mechanisms to facilitate trade," Andrei Denisov said, adding that much has been done during the last year: several expert meetings were held.

According to him, for any type of cooperation it is necessary to work out an institutional regulatory framework. "The interaction between China and the Eurasian Economic Commission is creating such a framework," Denisov concluded.

The director of the EurAsEC Institute, a member of the Zinoviev Club of ‘Rossiya Segodnya’ news agency, Vladimir Lepekhin, said, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, that the EEU member countries have been negotiating with China for a long time and even have been discussing specific projects - for example, those associated with China's transport projects, which are directly related to all the EEU member states, except Armenia.

"Why is China of interest? Firstly, it is the formation of the Great Silk Road by different routes, including the northen one, which has to pass through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Belarus. Accordingly, the construction of this route is associated with the development of the territories through which the route will pass (building of the roads, providing maintenance etc.) This is a global project, which is of interest for all the EEU member countries. The second direction is transportation systems which are tied to the development of the infrastructure. Russia and Kazakhstan are very interested in China, which has recently been stepping up efforts to build different kinds of high-speed lines, because it may participate in the construction of high-speed lines in these vast territories of Russia and Kazakhstan. Thirdly, every EEU member country has its own relationship with China. For example, Russia has signed a lot of agreements with China in the sphere of energy supplies: for example, the Power of Siberia project and China's participation in the development of liquefied natural gas production on Yamal. Accordingly, China as a consumer of Russian and Kazakh resources is interested in this course. And Moscow on its parts, while Russia is blocked by the West, is interested in China to be the consumer of its hydrocarbons," the expert said.

"Accordingly, in spite of the unfolding geopolitical confrontation, the demonic policy pursued by the West, it is clear that Russia is interested in technological collaboration with such major powers as India and China, and within the framework of the BRICS. And this cooperation should be carried out not only at the bilateral level, but also at the block level. For example, the key and the most promising direction for the integration of development and cooperation between Russia and China is the interaction between the Eurasian economic Union and the SCO, where China plays a decisive role. And the economic development of the entire Eurasian space will depend on the results of the interaction between the EEU and the SCO. Well, respectively, Russia and China, more precisely the EEU and the SCO, are interested in building a free trade zone in the Eurasian region with the participation of the major powers in the region – Russia, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan and so on," the director of the EurAsEC Institute explained.

Answering the question whether the EEU market may face a threat of cheaper Chinese products, the expert suggested that such a threat is always there.

"But why does the EEU negotiate its interests? It wants to find out the interests of the national markets of the EEU member states. Therefore, Russia gains experience in solving disputes with Kazakhstan and Belarus on various product groups within the framework of the EEU. This is the first step for further cooperation with China, where the EEU member states will not thoughtlessly open their markets for Chinese goods. It will be a mutually beneficial cooperation and it will be regulated by the contracts signed,” Vladimir Lepekhin concluded.