China is reluctant to side with Russia in the current Ukraine crisis so much so for economic reasons as the Chinese economy is already in a shaky spot, giving less incentive to Xi Jinping to tie his country's fortunes to Moscow's in the event of a military crisis.
Russia has one obvious ally to turn to as geopolitical sparks fly with the West over Ukraine, as noted by CNN.
But don't expect China to offer much more than supportive words to its northern neighbor should the United States and Europe follow through with threats to slam Russia's economy if Moscow launches an invasion of Ukraine. Beijing's diplomatic and military ties with Moscow may be strong, but its economic allegiances are a lot more complex.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday as the Beijing Winter Olympics kicked off. The Kremlin described the meeting as warm and constructive, and the leaders agreed to deepen their cooperation, according to an account published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Russian oil giant Rosneft said it had agreed to boost supplies to China over the next decade, according to CNN.
Meanwhile, US lawmakers are threatening to impose what they call the "mother of all sanctions" on Russia should it cross a red line. European leaders are also preparing punishments that would go way beyond the curbs imposed on Russia when it annexed Crimea in 2014.
China which has its own tensions with the West has already expressed diplomatic support for its ally. In a joint statement issued Friday after their meeting, Xi and Putin said both sides opposed "further enlargement of North Atlantic Treaty Organization." Russia fears Ukraine may join the alliance.
"Xi almost certainly believes there is a strategic interest in supporting Russia," said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Washington DC based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
He pointed out that China "remains at permanent loggerheads" with the United States.
There is already some evidence that tensions with the West have deepened cooperation between China and Russia, according to Alexander Gabuev, senior fellow and chair of Russia in the Asia Pacific Program at Carnegie Moscow Center. He cited arms deals, the joint development of weapons, and an "increased number of joint drills" between the two powers, as analyzed by CNN.
But it's not clear how far that would extend to deeper economic cooperation in the face of harsh sanctions. Russia depends deeply on China for trade, but that's not the case the other way round. And the Chinese economy is already in a shaky spot, giving less incentive to Xi to tie his country's fortunes to Moscow's in the event of a military crisis.
Trade between Russia and China in 2015 fell 29% from the year before, according to official statistics from China. Chinese direct investment into Russia also suffered, according to CNN.
( With inputs from ANI )
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