Sino-Russian Geopolitical Rapprochement in Agri-Food Trade Relations

Abstract

Food and agricultural trade has emerged as a battleground for geopolitics in recent years. Indeed, greater Sino-Russian trade cooperation in these sectors, amidst growing tensions with the West, raises the question of whether this sector is becoming a new focal point in their strategic partnership. But increased trade and market access belies the reality that the ties between the two powers in this sector are still marred by a range of tariff and non-tariff barriers and mismatched rather than complementary market profiles. Moreover, the sector replicates many of the asymmetric dynamics that mark the broader economic relationship. To the extent that the sector has increasingly been considered by authorities in strategic terms, however, Sino-Russian trade in this sector proves a useful indicator of both the possibilities and the limits of the broader bilateral rapprochement.