The head of the Center for the Study of Far Eastern Countries in St. Petersburg, Kirill Kotkov, claims that China will not quarrel with the European Union over Russia and “illegal sanctions.”
Earlier, Beijing protested against the unlawful measures that the EU could apply to Chinese companies that provided assistance in circumventing anti-Russian sanctions. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on possible restrictions from the EU.
“Based on the experience of previous statements by China, there is a high probability that this is another last warning,” Kotkov commented on the diplomatic statement of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in an interview with ridus.ru.
The expert refers to data on China’s trade with other countries last year.
“The EU is China’s leading trading partner. The volume of trade between the EU and China amounted to $783 billion. The United States is in second place with 664 billion. Russia ranks seventh with $240 billion. Yes, the numbers are growing. If two years ago Russia’s share in trade with China was slightly more than 2%, now it has grown to 4%. However, the EU’s share of trade is more than 13%, and the US’s share is 11.6%. Think for yourself which partner is more important,” Kotkov said.
“Let’s not forget that for Russia China is the main partner, but for China Russia is only the seventh most important partner. This needs to be kept in mind,” he added.
According to the expert, at the moment China has taken a “friendly-neutral position” towards Russia, but at the same time protects its interests.
“As has been shown many times, China supports Russia more with words. This statement can be classified as “I can’t remain silent.” Considering that Chinese banks are beginning to refuse service, it is obvious that, despite all the disagreements and contradictions with the Western world, economic relations are a priority,” concluded Kirill Kotkov.
Source: Rosbalt
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