N Korea to top agenda at China-Russia meeting

CHINESE Foreign Minister Wang Yi will make an official visit to Russia on Thursday and Friday for meetings with key officials, including his counterpart Sergei Lavrov. The timing, which coincides with the Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and G-7 summits of Western powers, underlines that Beijing and Moscow have an alternative cooperation agenda on multiple issues, including the Korean nuclear stand-off and the Syrian conflict.

While Korea tensions will probably top the agenda, the two countries also enjoy an extensive bilateral economic dialogue which has warmed, in certain areas, since the crisis in Ukraine which has seen Russia's suspension from the G-8 (now the G-7 in Moscow's absence). In the period following the escalation of those tensions, Russia has for instance announced plans for a number of cooperation projects with China including a new method of inter-bank transfers, and a joint credit agency that seeks to create a shared financial and economic infrastructure that will allow them to function independently of Western-dominated financial institutions.

China and Russia are also among the states involved in creating alternative fora to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, including the New Development Bank (NDB). This will finance infrastructure and other projects in the BRICS states, and a related US$100 billion special currency reserve fund.