China-Russia: Limiting the Fallout

Reading with interest reports coming from the APEC summit in Peru about the meetings between China's president Hu Jintao and Russia's president Dimitry Medvedev, about the "strategic action plan" they discusssed during the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Washington. It sounds like an economic version of Bismarck's "reinsurance treaty" system. In the energy sphere, it sounds like China is guaranteeing purchases of Russian energy which in turn guarantees Russia a set amount of income and gives Russia the financing to proceed with field and infrastructure development. China gets energy security, Russia doesn't have to turn to skittish international credit markets for financing. Whether, over time, both China and Russia work to developed a system that helps to shield both from negative consequences in the international global economy will be interesting to observe.