China should learn from Russian ‘resilience’ in sanctions defence: researchers

Government researchers have recommended several steps China should take to prepare for potential sanctions, using Russia as case study

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China could learn from Russia’s response to US sanctions as the geopolitical atmosphere gets complicated, government researchers said. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:06pm, 7 Nov 2024Updated: 4:33pm, 7 Nov 2024

China should learn from Russia’s struggles with US-led sanctions and take pre-emptive action to boost self-sufficiency in grain and energy, researchers at a government think tank said, while also making its industrial chains more resilient through regional partnerships and diversification.

Their calls have gained urgency following Donald Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s US presidential election, a result likely to intensify tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

“The decoupling, breaking, and choking of industrial chains are likely to become the norm in future great power rivalries,” cautioned Zhang Qizai, deputy director of the Institute of Industrial Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Zhang and fellow researcher Chen Hanxue published their findings in the latest issue of Russian, East European & Central Asian Studies, an academic journal.

They urged China to prepare for risks by learning from Russia, whose industrial chains “demonstrated strong resilience in the face of extreme sanctions” since the onset of the war in Ukraine.

Their research, reposted on the institute’s official WeChat account on Tuesday, came as worries mount in China over the looming threat of US sanctions and the “weaponisation” of the US dollar, with Trump’s return expected to exacerbate geopolitical strife.

“China must further strengthen the stability and supply security of key industries such as food, energy and minerals,” the academics said, calling such a move essential for industrial resilience as well as the functioning of the national economy.