According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed on April 25 that he plans to visit China in May at the annual meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. The annual congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, as a gathering place for Russian industrial enterprises, represents the backbone of Russia's social economy to varying degrees. The salient problem facing Russian industrial enterprises is the reality that the supply chain of key raw materials is blocked due to the withdrawal of Western companies, and the export of products has been reduced due to the closure of Western markets. Against this background, the Chinese direction is the solution to the difficulties of Russian industrial enterprises, and the development of relations with China is the direction of cohesion in Russian society.
In the industrial docking with China, Sino-Russian cooperation is solving two major problems in the operation of the Russian industrial chain. First, the Russian supply chain has been broken in many places due to the supply interruption of the West, and through the comprehensive docking of Chinese and Russian enterprises, the industrial gaps of Russian enterprises have been filled and improved. Second, under the circumstance that the Western market is closed on a large scale and the Russian domestic market is difficult to absorb excess production capacity in a short period of time, Russian export enterprises are faced with the situation of being forced to close some factories and reduce production capacity in order to seek self-protection. In this context, the increase in the Chinese market has turned the existential problem faced by Russian companies. China's expansion of imports from Russia has reduced the losses of Russian companies in the direction of Western markets.
As a result, the problem faced by Russian enterprises has been downgraded from the state of recession in which they cannot maintain production to the problem of adjusting the state of production. The economic and trade volume between China and Russia in 2022 will be 190 billion US dollars, and in 2023 this value will increase to 240 billion US dollars, and the bilateral trade volume is expected to approach 300 billion US dollars in 2024. With the "Belt and Road" docking with the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS mechanism, the "Belt and Road" is the representative of the "Belt and Road" and the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the BRICS mechanism, to build a systematic network of stable economic circulation, security co-construction and financial docking in Eurasia. As for Putin's upcoming visit to China, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited China in early October to make preliminary preparations. Lavrov's visit to China coincides with the end of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's visit to China.
At present, the relations between China and the United States and China and Russia are showing different tones, and the relationship between China and the United States is dominated by confrontation and confrontation and control of this confrontation. This is also the main focus of Blinken's visit to China, to manage differences and prevent conflicts from spiraling out of control and turning into conflicts that are harmful to both sides. Before Blinken's visit to China, the US also threatened to impose sanctions on Chinese financial institutions involved in China-Russia economic and trade relations.
In this regard, the Chinese side stated that it will resolutely defend the right to conduct normal economic and trade activities with Russia and other countries, and that China's relevant rights and interests cannot be infringed upon. After the Chinese side conveyed its attitude that it is not afraid of the financial war between China and the United States, an anonymous US official downgraded that the US is not prepared to impose relevant sanctions at this time. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told British media on the 25th that she has no sanctions to announce at the moment, but the United States will impose sanctions if necessary.
The financial links between China and the United States affect each other, and the financial war between the two countries will cause damage to each other. Specifically, the United States remains wary of the Sino-US financial war, which is related to two factors. First, China's economic layout. From the settlement of local currencies in China and Russia, to the BRICS multilateral monetary system, to the depth of China's foreign economy opened up by the Belt and Road Initiative, China has the ability to build a regional and global financial system outside the dollar system. The U.S. financial attack on China will accelerate the construction of China's independent financial system. Second, the decline of the US economic stock. Rising interest payments on U.S. Treasury bonds continue to weaken U.S. fiscal capacity. The sluggish real economy of the United States, represented by Boeing, has reduced the resilience of the United States' industry.
During Blinken's visit to China, the U.S. Department of Commerce released first-quarter economic data on April 25. The U.S. economy showed a weaker-than-expected performance for its worst quarter in two years, with core inflation, excluding food and housing, rising and Treasury rates continuing to fluctuate on unfavorable economic data. Against this backdrop, it is clear that the US side still has the intention to use sanctions to advance its goals. However, the US national strength can no longer support the US plan.