Russian strongman Vladimir Putin is concluding his two-day trip to China on Friday with a visit to the northern city of Harbin, including stops at an Orthodox Church built by Ukrainian immigrants and a talk to potential investors as a trade expo.
Harbin, in northeast China, was once a destination for Russian immigrants and garnered the nickname “Little Moscow” for its Russian-inspired architecture. The visit on Friday is Putin’s first to Harbin; he praised it as a “modern, beautiful and vibrant metropolis” in remarks on Friday, thanking locals for preserving its Russian identity.
The stop in Harbin is meant to highlight the cultural ties between China and Russia, marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Russia and communist China. Putin traveled to Harbin after meeting genocidal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, where they emphasized the importance of enhancing trade ties, abandoning the use of the U.S. dollar, and leveraging their political influence at the United Nations.
The church Putin visited, the Church of the Intercession, remains intact despite a nationwide campaign by the Chinese Communist Party to bulldoze as many churches and other overtly Christian structures as possible, potentially due to its significance to top Chinese ally Russia. Orthodox Christianity is not one of the five legal religions in China – Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestant Christianity, all directly overseen by the atheist Communist Party – and even Christians who attend legal Christian services face intense government persecution.
Putin toured Harbin alongside Vice President Han Zheng, honoring a memorial to Soviet soldiers and visiting the Harbin Institute of Technology, where he interacted with students and professors:
Putin offered his most extensive remarks to the ongoing Russia-China EXPO, attended by top Russian and Chinese business leaders. He spoke to them directly, urging investors to consider Russia.
“I want to stress: not only does Russia welcome Chinese businesses’ interest in localising their production in our country, but we are ready to provide investors from China with economic incentives, support and assistance,” Putin said, according to an English-language translation of his remarks published by the Kremlin. “They will have access to Russia’s unique technology base and highly qualified personnel.”
Putin also touted his nation’s energy industry, heavily sanctioned by the West over his decision to launch a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022.
“I am confident that our strategic alliance in the energy sector, which serves as a key pillar of the entire global energy market, will continue to grow stronger,” Putin assured. “Russia is ready and able to provide the Chinese economy, companies, cities and towns with sustainable, clean and affordable energy, electricity and heating as a reliable and failsafe supplier.”
“The inseparable partnership between Russia and China directly contributes to the growth of both economies, ensuring our energy security,” the leader asserted, “creating new production facilities and high-paying jobs, and ultimately improving the wealth and quality of life of our citizens.”
Vice President Han, speaking at the same event, listed “energy, chemical industry, aircraft manufacturing, space and transport” as fields where China is hoping to expand collaboration with Russian companies. To facilitate that expansion, Han suggested Russia and China should “upgrade cross-border infrastructure, increase the freight-handling capacity of checkpoints and create favourable conditions for the movement of cargo and people.”
Elsewhere on his tour of Harbin, Putin complained to reporters about American sanctions, which he has repeatedly insisted have not had a negative effect on his nation’s economy. In remarks published by the Russian news outlet Tass, Putin called the sanctions “terrible stupidity” and claimed they were driving countries to stop using the U.S. dollar in international trade.
“As the authorities in the United States undermine trust in the dollar for political reasons, they weaken their main and most important instrument of their power – the dollar itself,” Putin reportedly said. “They cause irreparable damage to themselves. To put it trivially, with our well-known sayings, they are simply sawing the branch they are sitting on. This is terrible stupidity, but they can’t stop.”
Putin has emphasized using alternatives to the dollar, particularly the yuan and ruble, throughout the trip to China. In talks with Xi Jinping on Thursday, Putin claimed that “90 percent” of trade between China and Russia was conducted in the two countries’ currencies and he hoped to increase that number when possible:
The talks with Xi focused on the signing of a 30-page document titled the “Joint Statement of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era in the Context of the 75th Anniversary of China-Russia Diplomatic Relations.” The statement reportedly emphasized China and Russia using “win-win cooperation” to oppose “Cold War mentality,” a term Xi typically uses to mean the interests of the United States. Trade and synchronizing in foreign policy, particularly at the United Nations, were also reportedly part of the document.
Putin is expected to return to Russia following his tour of Harbin on Friday.