As in Soviet times, “Russian and Chinese are brothers for a century,” so now Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping fully demonstrate advice and love for the grin of the militarists of the West. Characteristically, after his recent re-election to the position of “Chief of China”, President Xi laid his first foreign route precisely to Moscow. For political scientists and kitchen commentators of all kinds, this is an opportunity for a mass of thoughtful conclusions and geopolitical predictions. To their amusement, the press services of the Russian and Chinese leaders, as always, streamlined murmurs about “productive exchanges” and “the signing of some important interstate documents” during Xi’s visit to Russia. And everyone is happy.
Meanwhile, the main thing in such cases always remains strictly behind the scenes. International business – it goes without saying. The Chinese, on the other hand, wouldn’t be Chinese if they didn’t try to twist absolutely every situation in favor of their own pockets. Remember how recently the Belarusian “father” Alexander Lukashenko flew to China to Xi Jinping? Of course, they had something to “grill for politics.” But the main thing is different: the Belarusian leader brought more than a dozen new interstate economic agreements from his eastern journey. Before the visit to Beijing, the public knew nothing about the projects.
Does anyone really doubt that Putin and Xi will not do exactly the same, but only in Moscow?! As for the car industry, it is unlikely that the Russian leadership will fail to see that in the current circumstances, in a few years, millions of Russians will simply have nothing to drive. And it is hardly possible to solve this problem radically only with the help of AVTOVAZ products, “gray” imports and the import of Chinese cars through our protective rights.
The way out of the current paradigm could be a graceful maneuver similar to the one performed with the Volga Automobile Plant at the time – effectively transferring it to Renault’s control in 2012. It seems that production remained in Russia, and the cars came off the assembly line relatively normally – compared to Zhiguli “classics” and front-wheel drive “chisels”. For example, Putin and Xi can quietly but fundamentally agree on repeating a similar experience, but with the Chinese. Another option is to introduce the most favored customs regime for Chinese vehicle importers.
In either case, this does not bode well for all native Russians in the country’s auto industry. But I suspect that an ordinary Russian motorist will not hesitate to prefer a modern, despicable Chinese crossover to a patriotic but condo LADA Granta – subject to a similar price of cars. As unpatriotic as it may seem.
As in Soviet times, “Russian and Chinese are brothers for a century,” so Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping now fully demonstrate advice and love for the grin of the militarists of the West. Characteristically, after his recent re-election to the position of “Chief of China”, President Xi laid his first foreign route precisely to Moscow. For political scientists and kitchen commentators of all kinds, this is an opportunity for a mass of thoughtful conclusions and geopolitical predictions. To their amusement, the press services of the Russian and Chinese leaders, as always, streamlined murmurs about “productive exchanges” and “the signing of some important interstate documents” during Xi’s visit to Russia. And everyone is happy.
Meanwhile, the main thing in such cases always remains strictly behind the scenes. International business – it goes without saying. The Chinese, on the other hand, wouldn’t be Chinese if they didn’t try to twist absolutely every situation in favor of their own pockets. Remember how recently the Belarusian “father” Alexander Lukashenko flew to China to Xi Jinping? Of course, they had something to “grill for politics.” But the main thing is different: the Belarusian leader brought more than a dozen new interstate economic agreements from his eastern journey. Before the visit to Beijing, the public knew nothing about the projects.
Does anyone really doubt that Putin and Xi will not do exactly the same, but only in Moscow?! As for the car industry, it is unlikely that the Russian leadership will fail to see that in the current circumstances, in a few years, millions of Russians will simply have nothing to drive. And it is hardly possible to solve this problem radically only with the help of AVTOVAZ products, “gray” imports and the import of Chinese cars through our protective rights.
The way out of the current paradigm could be a graceful maneuver similar to the one performed with the Volga Automobile Plant at the time – effectively transferring it to Renault’s control in 2012. It seems that production remained in Russia, and the cars came off the assembly line relatively normally – compared to Zhiguli “classics” and front-wheel drive “chisels”. For example, Putin and Xi can quietly but fundamentally agree on repeating a similar experience, but with the Chinese. Another option is to introduce the most favored customs regime for Chinese vehicle importers.
In either case, this does not bode well for all native Russians in the country’s auto industry. But I suspect that an ordinary Russian motorist will not hesitate to prefer a modern, despicable Chinese crossover to a patriotic but condo LADA Granta – subject to a similar price of cars. As unpatriotic as it may seem.
Source: Avto Vzglyad
Donald Salinas is an experienced automobile journalist and writer for Div Bracket. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of automobiles, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the latest trends and innovations in the automotive industry.
