China Silk Road and Russian Far East plans should advance together, says Beijing

MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. Russia and China should combine Beijing's plan to create a modern Silk Road East-West trading route alongside Moscow’s wish to develop its Far East, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday after talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. "Russia is not only a major European power but also a great country in the Asia-Pacific region," Wang told TASS, noting a shift in the focus of Russian policy "eastwards" in recent years. "China pursues a strategy of all-round openness to the outside world," he said, observing a "process of greater openness westward". "We could, therefore, link the development strategies of both countries," Wang said. This could "combine the Chinese initiative to create a Silk Road with the Russian initiative to modernise the Trans-Siberian and the Baikal-Amur railway mainlines alongside speeding Far East development," the diplomat said. "These two initiatives should be organically linked," he added. Wang also highlighted the need for more active partnership between China and the Eurasian Economic Union, the new Russia-led political and economic bloc formed together with Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia. "Working together will help not only to upgrade Russian-Chinese strategic co-operation, but also open up new opportunities for practical partnership and provide new impetus for further development in Eurasia," he said. Read more