What does the RDIF chief have to say about BRI?

World
Europe

02:13

On the sidelines of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin pledged to further improve bilateral ties, naming Russia an important partner in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

For decades, China and Russia stood by each other on global affairs. They share common interests on the BRI as well.

How can the BRI engage with Russia's own Eurasian vision? CGTN Senior Correspondent Tian Wei spoke to Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive officer of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), on Sino-Russian cooperation.

"There is broad cooperation between the Eurasian Union and the [Belt and Road] Initiative," Dmitriev said, adding that "so far the investment has been quite significant by Chinese companies and Russia including in the Arctic region. So we are talking about tens of billions of dollars of investments, but we hope to increase it to hundreds of billions of dollars of investments."

Dmitriev said a lot of the China-Russia cooperative projects are infrastructure investments in the Far East of Russia, such as ports and airports. Russia has also invited a number of Chinese investors to participate in some international projects.

It is worth noting that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un concluded his first visit to Russia recently. Kim and Putin discussed the Korean Peninsula situation and vowed to seek stronger bilateral ties.

Peace and stability are important guarantees for investment and economic growth. Dmitriev believed that Russia has been playing a positive role in the DPRK's denuclearization.

"Russia has taken a very solid approach to making sure that North Korea (DPRK) denuclearizes but at the same time receive guarantees along the way."

Dmitriev called the Kim-Putin summit "a very important and positive meeting for the stability of the region." He added that "good dialogue with North Korea (DPRK) is important. That is of the interest of the world and South Korea (Republic of Korea)."

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