Xi, Putin Vow to ‘Significantly Increase’ Trade, Replace U.S. Dollar With Chinese Currency For Cross-Border Transactions
With Biden at the helm, Xi tells Putin: “Change is coming that hasn’t happened in 100 years. And we are driving this change together.”
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China and Russia vowed to strengthen economic ties during President Xi Jinping’s 3-day visit to Moscow that ended on Wednesday. The Chinese leader’s visit also cemented the emerging China-Russia axis that seeks to realign the world order in Beijing’s favor.
With President Joe Biden in the White House, the Chinese president gleefully told his Russian counterpart that the century-long U.S. dominance on the world stage was now coming to an end. “Change is coming that hasn’t happened in 100 years. And we are driving this change together,” Xi told triumphantly President Putin on Tuesday.
"Changes are coming that have not happened for 100 years. And we are promoting these changes together. Where we are united, now there is peace," says Xi Jinping, saying goodbye to Putin.
Whatever he meant, it doesn’t bode well for the United States. pic.twitter.com/ffHGMkg1vB
— Mike (@Doranimated) March 21, 2023
Beijing and Moscow agreed to ‘significantly increase’ bilateral trade and reduce the use of the U.S. dollar in cross-border transactions. “Xi said China is prepared to expand cooperation with Russia in areas including trade, investment, supply chain, energy, and innovation,” Germany’s DW TV reported citing Chinese state media. “The two leaders also signed two agreements to deepen the strategic partnership of coordination and economic cooperation,” the broadcaster added.
The Hong Kong daily South China Morning Post reported Xi’s visit:
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged on Tuesday to “significantly increase” trade between their two countries by 2030, and Putin threw his weight behind wider globalisation of the yuan, a move aimed at weakening the power of the US dollar.
“We are for the use of the Chinese yuan in settlements between Russia and Asian countries, Africa, Latin America,” Putin said, according to the RIA Novosti news service.
“This practice should be further encouraged.” Xi and Putin held a second round of talks on Tuesday discussing security and economic issues, including energy, resources and information technology; the leaders also signed a joint statement pledging cooperation through 2030.
Additionally, Xi invited Putin to China for this year’s Belt and Road Forum, both Xinhua and Russia’s Sputnik news agency reported.
Russia and China have long decried the inordinate strength of the US dollar – the de facto global currency – and the leverage it gives Washington to flex its muscles well beyond the confines of finance.
In the wake of the U.S. and Western sanctions following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, China has emerged as Russia’s key trading partner. In 2022, China-Russia trade reached a record US$190.27 billion, a 30 percent year-on-year increase. The bilateral trade hit “US$33.69 billion in the first two months of this year,” the Hong Kong-based Asia Times newspaper reported.
The surge in bilateral trade is largely due to increased Chinese import of Russian gas and oil since the war in Ukraine started in late February 2021. “Beijing’s spending on Russian energy, including crude oil and products, coal and natural gas, ballooned to $88 billion in the year through February,” Bloomberg reported Tuesday, quoting Chinese sources. “That compared to $57 billion in the previous 12 months,” the news outlet noted.
China, Russia push to “de-dollarize” global trade
The latest joint China-Russia bid to “de-dollarize” their bilateral trade is part of a Beijing-led initiative to erode the status of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
Earlier this month, media reports said that China, Russia, and some emerging economies were trying to float a new global reserve currency, which will be backed by gold and other commodities. “China and Russia have announced they, along with Brazil, India and South Africa, are “working to develop a new global reserve currency” to compete with the U.S. dollar,” the Washington Times reported on March 3.
According to the International Monetary Fund, “[t]he share of US dollar reserves held by central banks fell to 59 percent—its lowest level in 25 years—during the fourth quarter of 2020.” Before the euro was introduced in 1999, the U.S. dollar accounted for around 71 percent of the global foreign exchange reserve.
During the same period, the Chinese yuan rose to 9 percent of the global central bank reserves worldwide, the DC-based fund noted.
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Comments
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI)… Obama/Biden’s World War Springs have taken a toll on transnational relationships.
Xi must have read Robert Reich’s “break things to stimulate the economy” article from back in the day; looking to co-opt Russi’s breaking stuff to supplement what they’ve crashed themselves in CCP-China.
Xi and little Xi. You boys go ahead.
““We are for the use of the Chinese yuan in settlements between Russia and Asian countries, Africa, Latin America,” Putin said…”
the Chinese yuan – hmmm- keep in mind that the ruble is now backed by gold. what is the yuan backed by?
The full faith and credit of a military and economic hegemonic power. Pretty much the same hugs and kisses as the US dollar.
Sure it is. They pretend it’s backed by gold but Russian word/law is meaningless. Private Military Companies are also illegal in Russia.
Blood.
And now all those US Bonds we sold to China to finance our government debt start coming home to roost. (So to speak.)
there have been rumbles for years about the dollar being supplanted as the reserve currency for the world–looks like a move to accomplish just that
Russia got nothing from their Chinese masters, in other words.
Meanwhile Europe is going for a de-agriculturalization and de-industrialization policy.
In America education across the country is increasingly becoming a complete and utter joke as the three Rs get replaced by DEI.
We are not going to achieve anything from objecting to people we openly hate turning to one another instead of us.
If we want ourselves and our allies to maintain dominance the place to start isn’t horror that Russia and China are getting closer it is at home.
Thanks, Joe. It’s so nice not to have to read those mean tweets anymore.