President Xi’s first foreign trip, the West is left out

Published on Author harbaugh

 

President Vladimir Putin and President Xi Jinping at the signing of a joint statement on deepening mutually beneficial cooperation and relations.

President Xi Jinping just wrapped up his first foreign trip as China’s head of state. He visitedRussia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo. Deng Xiaoping’s firstforeign trip was Washington, DC in 1978. President Xi’s choice of Africa and Russia is sending a signal to the West of the strengthening relationships that do not include the West. Deng thought his reforms could not succeed without the help of the West, however the actions ofXi hypothesize otherwise.

BRICS consists of the world’s fastest growing economies and despite their lack of precedence they are making significant efforts to be sustainable. Putin and Xi signed 32 cooperation agreements with focus in energy cooperation ranging from petroleum to nuclear power to new sources of energy. Additionally, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China and Russia want to expand their relationship from pure buying-selling to joint research and manufacturing. Currently the global economy is very concentratedin the West and President Xi’s trip emphasizes the East’s efforts to alter the trade structure and provide more high-tech products and Intel. Source

President Xi committed to expand Africa-China relationship

3 Responses to President Xi’s first foreign trip, the West is left out

  1. Xi’s choice of Moscow as his first foreign capital visit demonstrates the increasing interdependence of the two countries. From energy deals, trade and geo-politics, China and Russia have been instep over a range of thorny international issues such as North Korea. A key element of the talks will be how to steer the future of the increasingly intertwined economies. Trade between Moscow and Beijing grew 11.6% to a record $88.1 billion in 2012, according to figures from the China Institute of International Relations.

    For more information about Russia and China: http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/world/asia/china-xijinping-moscow

  2. I think this should be taken with a grain of salt. Relationships with the West are very important to China, and I don’t think this visit was any intentional snub – President Obama didn’t visit China until he had been in office for 10 months. China’s warnings to North Korea are evidence that ties with the West are strengthening.

  3. As an economist, I find that “good” and “bad” relations often have little or no implications for financial flows, trade flows and so on – a few decades of watching US-Japan relations. What is interesting here is that the trip is essential being written up as a purely commercial venture (though in 1967 Russia and China fought a limited war over a portion of the Amur River).