Russia and China can boost global recovery – economy analyst

Moscow and Beijing failed to agree on a major energy deal. But an assistant professor of economics at City University in Hong Kong believes the two economies will only benefit from the mutual co-operation.

“These economies are highly complementary to each other,” Dr. Baozhi Qu.told RT. “For instance, China has a big market, China has a great energy demand, and also China is growing fast. On the other hand, Russia has a big land size very rich in energy and mineral resources. Russia needs China as a big market, as a consumer. So, fundamentally speaking, both countries can be complementary to each other and can play a positive role in the global recovery.” "Russia used to depend on the European market as the buyers of its oil and gas,” Qu elaborated. “But we all know that the European market doesn’t look very bright, at least for now. Russia needs to diversify in terms of getting its oil and gas and other energy resources sold. If Russia can have a more balanced model between Europe and East Asia, which is the most rapidly-developing region in the world, this would be beneficial for Russia in the long run. And this will be good for China too. China also wants to diversify its supply of energy sources. For instance, it used to depend heavily on the Middle East. But we all know about the recent disturbances there. So China is hungry for the new energy source. Certainly, if this deal is reached and China can buy a large amount of gas from Russia, it can get a stable and long-term reliable energy resources, so that is certainly beneficial for China.”Commenting the failure of the two countries to reach a gas deal, Dr. Baozhi Qu believes that sooner or later the contract will be signed. “Gas talks are a big deal and a lot of money is involved, so, you can imagine the negotiations will be tough. There are a lot of terms which need to be determined and negotiated. It takes time,” he said.