China consolidates Russia’s vassalage: Xi Jinping finally got the leverage of full influence

Unexpectedly for many, the widely publicized visit of the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping to Russia ended on the morning of March 22, and the traditional joint press conference of the leaders of both countries and some other previously planned events did not take place.

According to Bloomberg, the results of the visit hint at “the lack of progress in concluding major energy agreements, as well as specifics in other areas of economic cooperation, and also indicate certain Chinese hesitation about whether to move closer to Russia.”

Xi’s visit to Moscow is a tool to enhance the image of both leaders

It seems that both sides – both Chinese and Russian – skillfully used the fact of the visit for the needs of internal propaganda and strengthening their own image both in the eyes of their population, and to enhance the impression of their success in the foreign policy arena. Apparently, the Chinese leader is actively trying to get used to the role of a “global peacemaker”, signaling to his potential allies in Asia, Africa and Latin America about China’s exceptional peaceful intentions. The Russian leadership, on the contrary, tried to convince its electorate of Beijing’s unconditional support for Moscow’s foreign policy, actively promoting “large-scale economic agreements” and even hinting at possible arms supplies to Chinese partners. However, the real achievements of Vladimir Putin in this meeting can only be attributed to subtle oriental flattery addressed to him and his belief that he will retain his power in the coming years. In particular, Xi Jinping is convinced that the Russian people will support Putin in the presidential elections in 2024: “Thanks to your strong leadership, Russia has made significant progress in achieving the country’s prosperity in recent years. I am confident that the Russian people will strongly support you in your good endeavors.” “. “.

China establishes a “buyer monopoly” in Russian markets

In fact, the results of the visit are more like official Beijing reinforcing the ever deeper and broader dependence of the Russian Federation on the PRC. It can be stated with confidence that the almost complete severance of economic and political ties with the West leaves the Kremlin no options on how to reorient itself to the East, both in importing and exporting its goods, but most importantly, resources. Now China is playing a very profitable combination, which in economics is called the “monopoly of the buyer.” Using the extremely high dependence of the Russian economy on energy exports, the PRC, after the loss of European markets, is actually becoming the main buyer of Russian oil and gas, which gives them the opportunity to dictate any conditions, including price and supply volumes.

In turn, Russia will be forced to accept all the conditions, because the rejection of them will mean the actual collapse of the oil and gas sector, since excess production without sales will first fill all the storage facilities, and then lead to the need to conserve fields and close pipelines, which, in turn, will will lead to the collapse of the state budget of Russia.

Russia’s energy sector turns out to be almost completely dependent on China

Therefore, one of the biggest failures of the bilateral meeting between the leaders of China and the Russian Federation, analysts consider the lack of agreements to increase gas supplies and accelerate the construction of the new Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline. It is he who, according to Russian plans, in the future can partially compensate for the loss of European gas markets. According to world economic experts, “China does not need additional gas from Russia, especially after the economic downturn caused by quarantine,” as our publication recently wrote.

Therefore, Xi Jinping continues to accumulate in his hands the levers of influence on the Russian leadership and its economy, which will only aggravate China’s position in the future confrontation with the global West.

So, despite the loud PR in the Russian media, the visit of the leader of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping to Moscow did not bring the desired results, except for common intentions to continue developing economic cooperation, which has already been active for many years. The Kremlin’s sluggish response to Chinese peace initiatives disrupted the Chinese leader’s plans for a high-profile peacekeeping effect, which likely influenced the rather restrained results of other negotiations, in particular in the energy and military-technical spheres. Therefore, as a result of the visit, the political leadership of the PRC only increased its influence on the Russian Federation, weakened by its own aggressive war, and this underlines the effectiveness of Chinese diplomacy in the struggle for its own interests.