Advertisement
US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China-Russia ties ‘high on Beijing’s foreign policy agenda’ for 2021

  • Wang Yi says Beijing and Moscow need to deepen strategic cooperation
  • Observers say this could reflect fears about worsening ties with the United States and Europe

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
8
Ties with Russia will be a top diplomatic focus in 2021, according to China’s foreign minister. Photo: Reuters
Laura Zhouin Beijing
Resetting relations with the US and strengthening strategic ties with Russia will be among the top priorities for China next year, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday as he outlined the country’s diplomatic agenda for 2021.
Advertisement

Observers said the focus on ties with Russia could reflect concerns in Beijing about its worsening feud with the West.

Addressing diplomats and academics at an annual seminar hosted by the China Institute of International Studies at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, Wang said China’s top foreign policy priority would be to support the world’s post-pandemic economic recovery.

But in calling for “a new type of international relations”, he also focused on the need to deepen relations with Russia – more so than with Europe or the United States.

“We must deepen China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperation ... in various areas and at different levels ... so as to build a Sino-Russian pillar for world peace and security and global strategic stability,” Wang said, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Advertisement
He also called for greater strategic trust between China and the European Union by “upholding multilateralism, adhering to free trade and addressing climate change”.

More work needed to be done with the US to “rebuild a strategic framework for healthy and stable development in bilateral relations”. “The two sides need to work together and meet each other halfway,” Wang added.

Advertisement