The Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, has started a two-day visit to China, as Moscow seeks to deepen trade ties with China despite increasing international isolation over its war in Ukraine.
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At a Russia-China business forum in Shanghai on Tuesday, Mishustin said his nation's farmers were ready to significantly increase agricultural exports to China, Russian news agency Interfax reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been subjected to sanctions by the US, Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand and the UK, said China trade had helped Russia decrease its dependence on the dollar. This effort has also been boosted by increased trade in the two nations' national currencies, he said.
Mishustin's first visit to China comes as President Xi Jinping has sent a special envoy to Ukraine and several European countries. The parallel trips represent how Beijing is balancing its relationships with Moscow while also trying to portray Xi as a global peacemaker with unique ties to leaders on both sides of the Russian war.
Mishustin is expected to meet with Xi and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Wednesday to discuss cooperation in energy, transport infrastructure and agriculture, according to the Russian government. He will also meet former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who now heads the New Development Bank in Shanghai.
Russia's leader is expected to be joined by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is responsible for energy. Last week, Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said he was planning to attend, to discuss issues such as winter wheat and meat shipments to China, he told RBC TV on Friday.
A number of tycoons sanctioned by the US and its allies had also been invited, but it was not clear if they would attend. The Chinese foreign ministry and commerce ministry did not respond to questions regarding the event.
China has refused to join the US-led sanctions campaign against Russia for causing Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II, and since then, bilateral trade has surged. China's exports to Russia hit a record high in April, jumping 153% from a year earlier to $9.6 billion.
While China is buying a lot of products from Russia, wheat imports have been hampered by a plethora of problems, such as transport difficulties. Mishustin said the two countries need to strengthen food security and added that Russian farmers can expand the range of products they supply.
Beijing s top security official Chen Wenqing, who also sits on the Communist Party's 24-member Politburo, is also visiting Russia from May 21 to 28 to attend meetings on law-enforcement and security, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Saturday.
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