SHANGHAI, November 24. /TASS/. Russia is successfully coping with the sanctions imposed on it by the West, showing to the whole world how to go about this business, Wang Wen, the executive dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the People's University of China, has told TASS.
"I think that Russia is generally very good at resisting Western sanctions. I must say that the Western sanctions against Russia imposed over the past 21 months have actually failed. They did not help Ukraine to defeat Russia. Nor did they ruin the Russian economy," the expert said on the sidelines of the World Conference on China Studies in Shanghai.
Wang pointed out that against the backdrop of sanctions, Russia's economy grew and overtook the Australian and South Korean economies in size, rising to 8th place from 12th. "To a certain extent, we can say that Russia's anti-sanction strategy has been successful. The whole world should learn from it," Wang said. "Of course, the success of Russia's anti-sanctions strategy does not mean that we cannot take additional measures to prepare to counter sanctions in the future," he said, adding that first of all, a fairer international economic, financial and trade system should be created. The expert pointed to the importance of local currency settlements between Russia and China that would keep the trade between the two countries going outside the dollar system.
To counter Western sanctions, Wang believes, Russia and China need to step up cooperation in science and engineering. Russia has advantages in areas such as engine manufacturing, math and physics, and China, in intellectual technologies and the digital economy, he said. Wang drew attention to the fact that the two states need to increase exchanges in education as well.
"In general, the closer the cooperation between China and Russia, the more likely the two countries will be able to resist and prevent Western sanctions," he concluded.