MOSCOW, July 23. /TASS/. The West initially overestimated the effectiveness of pressure on the economies of China and Russia, Rosneft CEO and executive secretary of the Presidential Commission for the Strategy of Development of the Fuel and Energy Complex Igor Sechin.

"I would like to note that the West initially overestimated the effectiveness of its pressure on the powerful potential of the economies of our countries. For example, last year the IMF raised its forecast for Russia's GDP growth four times. By the end of the year, Russia's GDP growth exceeded initial expectations by almost 6 percentage points. A similar situation was observed in China," he said at the Russian-Chinese Energy Business Forum.

According to Sechin, despite the predicted "inevitable" slowdown of the Chinese economy, the IMF estimates that China's contribution to global economic growth over the next five years will be 21% - more than the combined contribution of all G7 countries (20%).

"The West is closely following the successes of Russia and China and is trying in every possible way to slow down the development of our countries," he noted.

Commenting on cooperation between Russia and China, Sechin noted that China has been Russia's largest trading partner for more than a decade, and last year Russia ranked fourth among its main foreign trade partners.

"All efforts to slow down the growth of our countries lead to the opposite result - the GDP growth rates of China (5.2% in 2023) and Russia (3.6% in 2023) are well ahead of Western countries and the world average," he emphasized.