A view of Qianjiang New Town, a central business district situated on the west bank of the Qiantang River in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang Province. Photo: VCG

Editor's Note: 

The two sessions are not only a major political event in China but also a key window for the world to observe the country's democratic politics and development trajectory. This year, as in years past, the event has captured considerable global attention, highlighting China's ongoing development and its implications for the world stage. In the "Unraveling the allure of China" series, the Global Times (GT) invites experts and scholars from around the world to delve into the multifaceted allure of China and explore how the lessons drawn from its unique experiences can provide valuable insights for other nations. 

This year's Chinese government work report proposed to "expand higher-standard opening up and stabilize foreign trade and investment." In the seventh installment of the series, Oleg Timofeev (Timofeev), associate professor at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, talked with GT reporter Xia Wenxin to share his thoughts on China's opening-up policy and its impact on global development, especially that of Russia and Eurasia.

GT: What, in your opinion, is the significance of this year's two sessions? What topics are you most interested in?

Timofeev: Contrary to slowdown forecasts by certain Western naysayers, the Chinese economy is well-positioned to sustain its recovery and maintain steady growth this year. Being one of the economic superpowers, China is making efforts to ride this trend with great success. During the two sessions, fresh efforts have developed new quality productive forces through measures of scientific and technological innovation. Recently, China's high-tech startups DeepSeek and Unitree Robotics have caught attention around the world and highlighted China's technological progress. 

Moreover, in 2024, China launched the AI Plus initiative, which implies wider use of AI in various sectors of industry and building digital industry clusters with international competitiveness. It is widely expressed that China's AI Plus initiative, big data application and other programs, which integrate technological and industrial development, will generate new sources of growth for the Chinese economy. 

GT: What are your expectations for China's implementation and promotion efforts regarding opening-up this year? Are you confident about the overall prospects of China's opening-up policy?

Timofeev: The third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, held in July last year, along with the Central Economic Work Conference in December and the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on February 28, clearly emphasized the need to expand institutional opening-up as a key task of economic work in 2025. This deployment is not only a new trend of high-quality economic development, but also a major step to respond to the turbulence in international relations, unilateral sanctions and trade wars imposed by Western countries.

The unique characteristics of China's opening-up policy are its inclusiveness and its provision of global collective goods. Unlike Western nations, China is widely sharing its achievements, even in the most sensitive high-tech and AI sectors.

Through its opening-up policy, China is making efforts to promote multilateralism around the world. It is participating in institutions, such as  the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, while also actively seeking to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Digital Economy Partnership Agreement and other multilateral institutions launched with the participation of some Western states.

China's interest in multilateral cooperation underlines its desire to actively participate in the formation of the new international order of global economic governance. The two sessions this year exerts an active and responsible influence on the formulation of new international norms and will adapt them to the conditions of the new international situation.

Traditional trade rules mainly focus on border measures such as tariffs and non-tariff measures. As Chinese economists point out, a new generation of economic and trade rules extends beyond border measures - such as tariffs and trade facilitation - to post-border measures, including environmental standards, labor protection and intellectual property rights. Promoting these goals would contribute to strengthening China's institutional rights in the international arena.

A view of Qianjiang New Town, a central business district situated on the west bank of the Qiantang River in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang Province. Photo: VCG

GT: In your opinion, what impact has China's opening-up policy had on China-Russia relations and the development of the Russian economy and society? 

Timofeev: Cooperation with China promotes irreplaceable opportunities for Russia. First of all, it alleviates the consequences of Western sanctions on Russia's economy. In the past three years, China has taken a leading position in the Russian market of cars, smartphones, electronic devices and construction equipment with a significant export growth rate.

Many Chinese banks established their presence in Russia, among them are large-scale financial institutions, while some major Russian banks are also operating in China. Within several months since the imposition of Western sanctions against Russia, the renminbi has surpassed the US dollar and the euro as the primary currency for trade between the two parties, strengthening its position as the most exchanged currency on the Moscow stock exchange.

Furthermore, the Russia-China economic cooperation in the new era of expanding high-level opening-up policy has involved some megaprojects, especially in the energy sector. One of the latest examples is the Amur Gas Chemical Complex, a joint venture between Russia's leading polymer and rubber manufacturer SIBUR and China's energy and chemical giant Sinopec. After its full commissioning, the plant will become a leading producer of basic polymers in the world and the industrial capacity of the complex will be 2.7 million metric tons a year.

Russian business structures are waiting for further development of China's opening-up strategy. For instance, Russian consumers of China-made cars and electronic equipment need Chinese service centers to be more efficient. Under quid pro quo conditions, Russian energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft are planning to get access to more of China's market.

GT: China views the Eurasian region as a key area for its opening-up. What are your thoughts on the potential of projects such as the Ice Silk Road and the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor?

Timofeev: China's trade with Russia grew by almost 3 percent in 2024, reaching $237 billion. In my opinion, in the near future, the two parties' attention will be focused on the problems of mutual investment and multilateral transport and logistic infrastructure.

In the latter field, the so-called Ice Silk Road project is of special interest. Both Russia, a traditional multi-century littoral power, and China, positioning itself as a rising near-Arctic stakeholder, are increasingly interested in the joint development of the Northern Sea Route. The interest is driven by the expanding shipping opportunities due to increased accessibility of polar waters, as well as the need to address the US' recent efforts to turn the Arctic into a region of an arms race. While Russia and China may have disagreements regarding issues such as the organization of icebreaker fleets in the region, these differences can likely be resolved through joint political will. The China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor could bring even more benefits to economic multilateralism in Eurasia since it provides more prospective logistics of the routes connecting Asia and Europe.