The future of the world, according to China and Russia

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Europe

02:27

The 23rd Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum concluded on Saturday, after hosting 17,000 participants.

Its key event was the plenary session, where world leaders talked about their views on the world's future.

At the stage were presidents of three countries, two prime ministers and the UN Secretary-General. The biggest stars were Russian and Chinese presidents.

World leaders attend a panel discussion at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russia, June 7, 2019. /Reuters Photo

The first speaker was Vladimir Putin, as the event's host. In his speech, he focused on the need for more equality in global trade and slammed those who opted for sanctions and trade wars as a tool to impose their vision on the world.

Although he didn't directly mention the U.S. and Western countries, it was clear that Putin was implying at the U.S. trade war with China and also endless sanctions by the West on Russia and many other countries around the world.

And then it was the time for Chinese President Xi Jinping to take the stage. In his speech, he focused on the welfare of the people and the need to eradicate poverty around the world.

Xi Jinping also shared the Chinese accomplishments in that area as well as the goals that China has in front of itself. He invited everybody to jointly collaborate on building 5G network technologies, which are labeled as game changers in the world.

But judging by the U.S. restrictions on Huawei 5G technology, it is something that the U.S. is apparently not happy to be involved.

The 5G battleground

Nikolay Andreev from Russian Big Jack, Communication Group supported what President Putin said about pressure on Huawei being a result of Western fear of losing ground and facing competition that they do not match.

Nikolay Andreev, Big Jack, Communication Group /Source CGTN

"The middle class alone in countries like China and India will reach 250 million people. And the West understood that all of a sudden they've started lagging behind. And now the Trump administration is trying to do everything to catch up. From my perspective what is happening now with 5G is all for political reasons." Andreev said to CGTN.

Russia is also facing years-long pressure from the West in the form of sanctions, a fact that was frequently mentioned at the forum. But regardless of that, business is finding the way to overcome or just avoid sanctions. It was confirmed to us by Vadim Khromov, Deputy Chairman of Moscow Region Government.

Vadim Khromov, Deputy Chairman of Moscow Region Government /Source CGTN

"We have lots of meetings with foreign companies and they all do the business in Russia and growing the business in Russia. And we see that these partnerships are very successful in the future. We have good partners in different countries and in all levels, including political one," Khromov said to CGTN.