This article has been published for the first time in April 2005 in the collection 'Russie.NEI.Visions', n°1, of the Russian.NIS Center at Ifri.Abstract

Russia’s relationship with China is complex and contradictory. Bilateral ties are more substantive and multifaceted than ever before, the two countries agree on most regional and international questions, and China is a major customer of Russian arms and energy. However, Moscow is increasingly uneasy about China’s transformation as the next global power and its implications for Russia’s security and rank in the world. Balancing delicately between strategic convergence and suspicion, Sino-Russian partnership faces an uncertain future.Bobo Lo is Head of the Russia & Eurasia program in Chatham House and Visited Fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center. His last books: 'Evolution or Regression? Russian Foreign Policy in Putin’s Second Term', in H. Blakkisrud (dir.), Towards a Post- Putin Russia (Oslo, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, 2006) and China and Russia: Common Interests, Contrasting Perceptions (CLSA special report, May 2006).