During the 9 months of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, China took the position of "neither yours nor ours."

But now Chinese leader Xi Jinping has instructed the government to establish closer economic relations with the Russian Federation, which may indicate that Beijing has decided to side with the Russian Federation. 

This was reported by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, citing Beijing's political advisers.

The authors of the influential publication write that the leader of China

"has been admired for  a long time

Putin" and that he is "doubling the bet on the president of the Russian Federation".

The 69-year-old Chinese leader is expected to visit Moscow next year, likely after China's legislative session in March. 

the Russian ambassador in Beijing recently told reporters 

Igor Morgulov.

China's plan calls for increasing Chinese imports of Russian oil, gas and agricultural goods, strengthening the energy partnership in the Arctic, and increasing Chinese investment in Russian infrastructure, such as railways and ports. 

In a written statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that "

China and Russia are each other's comprehensive strategic partners.

 The development of bilateral relations is based on the principles of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties."

Xi calls the decision to deepen economic cooperation between China and Russia a "turn" in the bilateral relations of the countries, which intensified immediately before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and were "put on pause" for some time after.

"China's partnership with Russia has helped shield Moscow from the economic fallout of Western sanctions, allowing leader Vladimir Putin to continue his war. 

Russia and China conduct more financial transactions in rubles and yuan, rather than in euros or dollars, which helps protect them from future sanctions and introduce the Chinese currency into wider circulation," WSJ journalists note.

However, the recent escalation of the war in Ukraine forces China to maintain

a more balanced position,

because China still needs Western technology and close ties with other foreign countries to compete with the United States.

We will remind, the diplomat, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of Ukraine Valery Chaly believes that China is taking a position that is currently in favor of Russia.

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