Last week Russia’s Vnesheconombank (VEB) announced that it signed an agreement with the Export–Import Bank of China (China EximBank) for an “up to $3 billion” framework line of credit.
The two banks are owned by their respective governments. The agreement was signed in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.
Under the agreement, the Chinese party will provide long-term loans to finance Russian projects in the fields of infrastructure and technologies as well as knowledge-intensive and innovative projects launched in Russia.
These include projects related to China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ — an economic development strategy which includes the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and the ’21st Century Maritime Silk Road’ across Eurasia — and the Eurasian Economic Union.
“VEB and China’s EximBank have been cooperating for a long time, and we have achieved great results. With the new agreement signed today, we will be able to expand Russia-China cooperation commercially and economically, and boost interaction across the high-tech sectors”, stated VEB’s head Sergey Gorkov.
This past summer several Russian state-owned funds and banks, including VEB, signed agreements with Chinese counterparts to support Russian projects for the combined amounts of over $12 billion.
Last year, in another illustration of their willingness to strengthen their ties in the field of high technologies, the two countries established a joint Russia-China Venture Fund (RCVF). In a separate move Rostec, a major, government-backed Russian tech corporation, and China CYTS Industrial Development, announced their intention to launch a $500-million tech fund.
