CGTN Europe spoke to Kirill Babaev, Director of the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ICCA RAS).
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00:00Kirill Babaev is director of the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
00:08This visit is actually quite important for both countries because it's a kind of a signal to the world,
00:14first of all to the West, that Russia and China unite in both understanding the history and coordinating their foreign policies in the present day.
00:24I think this is quite important for China to support Russia in its anniversary and for Russia to make this support visible to the Western partners.
00:37So I think this is a visit which is not only politically or economically important for bilateral relations,
00:44but also quite symbolic for the whole world because it shows that China and Russia are still coordinating their efforts
00:51and are still acting together whatever happens in the West.
00:56Confident, stable, resilient. That's how she describes it.
01:01How would you characterize the relationship what we're seeing between China and Russia?
01:08First of all, it is a trust and friendship.
01:11I think these are the most important terms for the bilateral relations at this moment,
01:16because Russia and China, they share not only a huge bilateral trade turnover,
01:22but also they share the vision for the present and future of the mankind
01:27and for the general principles of international relations.
01:31And I think it's much more important than any economic cooperation or political partnership on the world scene.
01:38We share the vision for the future, and this is probably the most important point,
01:43which makes Russia and China closest friends in the current world politics.
01:49It's interesting you talk about that shared vision.
01:51I wonder what you think this trip and the reception that the President Xi has received say
01:55about China standing in what is a changing world order.
02:02Right, exactly.
02:03The world order is changing, and I think Russia and China should be the beneficiaries of this change
02:07because they are promoting principles that require no domination,
02:12fair treatment for everyone, respect for national interests,
02:16and the world economy free of any unilateral limitations or sanctions or barriers.
02:24So these are the principles that Russia and China share with the majority of countries at the moment,
02:29and I think this is the basis of probably the new system of international relations
02:34that is being born at the moment.
02:35You talk about the majority of countries.
02:38I sense you're talking about emerging economies that are the global south
02:41rather than what we would classify as western countries,
02:45and this unilateral limitation you mentioned.
02:49Look, Xi said we must learn from history,
02:51resolutely oppose all forms of hegemony and political power.
02:55That's a swipe at the U.S., isn't it?
02:57Yeah, sure, because this anniversary is another reason to both back in history
03:08and see around in the future and in the present.
03:11We are now in a very crucial historical moment
03:15when the world is actually on the brink of a global conflict.
03:21And I think we all need to remember what kind of conflict the World War II was,
03:27and we need to try to prevent it in the future,
03:31prevent it by creating a stable and reliable international relations system
03:37that will require no domination and will require no unilateral dictatorship
03:42in whether the global economy or the global security.