Natural resources make allies of China and Russia

For Chinese people born in the 1940s and 1950s, many of whom still remain in very powerful positions in China, heart-felt Russian folk songs and old photos of beautiful Russian girls who were pen pals stir fond memories. Mao Zedong’s campaign to ally with the former Soviet Union as a fellow communist country helped instil Russian culture into China.

Much of it was romanticised. Even today, most Chinese still have a mythical notion of what Russia is really like, which is why participants in a natural resources panel at the third annual Russia CIS Investment Summit, hosted by FinanceAsia and AsianInvestor, said they take the time to...