MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia is ready to increase imports to China to compensate for the decreasing supply of US goods to the Chinese market amid the trade war between the two countries, the Russian Economic Development Ministry said.
Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin and Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan met in Beijing and discussed the prospects for the Russian-Chinese trade and investment growth, as well as the cooperation within the World Trade Organization (WTO), the press service of the Russian Economic Development Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
„The Russian side has voiced its readiness to compensate for the decreasing supply of the US goods to the Chinese market,“ the ministry read.
The ministry’s statement also cited Oreshkin as saying that the US unilateral protectionist measures were inconsistent with the multilateral trade system rules, and affected both the international trade and the Russian-Chinese trade and economic cooperation.
In addition, Oreshkin has emphasized that „at the time when a major international trade player ostentatiously ignores the general rules of the game, it is necessary for the WTO members to make coordinated effort toward the recovery of the organization [WTO]’s efficiency, and toward minimizing the damage caused by the groundless trade restrictions.“
In late September, the conflict escalated further, with Washington imposing sanctions on the Chinese Defense Ministry and the Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport over China’s intentions to purchase Russian aircraft and S-400 air defense missile systems. This triggered China’s withdrawal from the trade talks.
