The Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation Between the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

(FCT) is a twenty-year strategic treaty that was signed by the leaders of the two international powers,

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pr ...

and

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

, on July 16, 2001. On June 28, 2021, Russia and China extended the treaty for another 5 years after its expiration in February 2022.

Overview

The treaty outlines the broad strokes which are to serve as a basis for

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

ful relations, economic cooperation, as well as diplomatic and

geopolitical Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...

reliance. Article 9 of the treaty states "When a situation arises in which one of the contracting parties deems that peace is being threatened and undermined or its security interests are involved or when it is confronted with the threat of aggression, the contracting parties shall immediately hold contacts and consultations in order to eliminate such threats." Other articles (A7 and A16) point at increasing

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

cooperation, including the sharing of "military know-how" (A16), namely, Chinese access to Russian military technology. The treaty also encompasses a mutual, cooperative approach to

environmental technology Environmental technology (envirotech) or green technology (greentech), also known as '' clean technology'' (''cleantech''), is the application of one or more of environmental science, green chemistry, environmental monitoring and electronic devi ...

regulations and energy conservation; and toward

international finance International finance (also referred to as international monetary economics or international macroeconomics) is the branch of financial economics broadly concerned with monetary and macroeconomic interrelations between two or more countries. Inter ...

and

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

. The document affirms Russia's stand on Taiwan as "an inalienable part of China" (A5), and highlights the commitment to ensure the "national unity and territorial integrity" in the two countries (A4). The treaty includes a

no first use In nuclear ethics and deterrence theory, No first use (NFU) refers to a type of pledge or policy wherein a nuclear power formally refrains from the use of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in warfare, except for as a seco ...

clause for the two nations against each other. According to Paul Stronski and Nicole Ng of the

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington D.C. with operations in Europe, South and East Asia, and the Middle East as well as the United States. Founded in ...

, "the greatest threat to the West of the Sino-Russian partnership emanates from their efforts to adjust the international system to their advantage".

Motives

Analysts have attributed the motives behind, and perceived mutual benefit of, the FCT to several factors.

China

* China wishes to develop and modernize its

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, much of which remain outdated. This process can be accelerated with Russian military training and technology. * China wants to obtain a stable, consistent and affordable level of fuel shipments, especially

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

. This goal can be better met with purchases and delivery of Russian oil, including the construction of an Eastern Siberia–Pacific Ocean oil pipeline.China, Russia to honor commitments on oil pipeline
/ref> * China wishes to attain support for its stance towards Taiwan.

Russia

* Russia strives to obtain sources of capital, which it is in need of following severe losses to international speculators during the process of

Soviet dissolution The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

. This effort can be significantly aided through the use of Chinese capital. Accordingly: ** Russia wants to find sources of

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

for its skilled workforce. ** Russia wants to sell its military technology and expertise. ** Russia wants to sell its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. * Russia receives an assurance that the expansion of Chinese economic influence in the post-Soviet space does not oppose Russian political influence.

Economic competition with the US, Japan and the EU

The United States,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

are three economic powers who possess a skilled workforce and access to capital. Russia and the PRC can more effectively compete against these powers in the world economy, with Russia given access to Chinese capital and China given access to Russian training and technology.

References

External links

Text of the Treaty
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China {{DEFAULTSORT:2001 Sino-Russian Treaty Of Friendship Treaties of the People's Republic of China Sino-Russian China–Russia treaties Treaties concluded in 2001