Russia and China (and India, for that matter) already trade among themselves using their own national currencies and SWIFT-equivalent banking systems. Moreover, the western companies that dramatically clutched their pearls and proclaimed how they were leaving the Russian market, all have affiliates and production facilities in China, which are continuing shipments to Russia as usual. And on the flipside, China's gas demand keeps rising. The math is rather elegant - the Russians get all the manufactured goods they need, and the Chinese get all the energy and natural resources they need. And the west gets to watch.
Toss in India, Indonesia and Vietnam (which also either support Russia or maintain neutrality), and you get an economy comprising just about half of the world's population, in for the mother of all bull markets concerning everything from real estate to household electronics, and all without depending on the dollar as an exchange currency.
As for the ruble, the current freefall means the Russian government can buy up all the excess virtually for free, and since the EU shot itself in the foot with the sanctions, if it wants to continue buying Russian gas, it'll have to buy rubles first, with which to purchase it. For which it will use its precious metal reserves - another bull market opening right now.
All in all, I'm not sure if it'll be a Chinese century, but by the looks of it, it's definitely not gonna be western in any form or capacity.
I'll have to consider that too. Officially, as of early February, Russia and China have a considerable gas agreement - meaning Russia has anticipated the western boycott and possibly plans to turn to China as a long-term trading partner. As for vice versa, I don't think the west has enough leverage on China as a manufactured goods exporter to try and force it to stop selling to Russia, even ostensibly western brands. Likewise, the other countries above are in a comfortable enough strategic position to continue doing business as usual with both Russia and China, without fearing any overt retaliation from the west.
Russia and China (and India, for that matter) already trade among themselves using their own national currencies and SWIFT-equivalent banking systems. Moreover, the western companies that dramatically clutched their pearls and proclaimed how they were leaving the Russian market, all have affiliates and production facilities in China, which are continuing shipments to Russia as usual. And on the flipside, China's gas demand keeps rising. The math is rather elegant - the Russians get all the manufactured goods they need, and the Chinese get all the energy and natural resources they need. And the west gets to watch.
Toss in India, Indonesia and Vietnam (which also either support Russia or maintain neutrality), and you get an economy comprising just about half of the world's population, in for the mother of all bull markets concerning everything from real estate to household electronics, and all without depending on the dollar as an exchange currency.
As for the ruble, the current freefall means the Russian government can buy up all the excess virtually for free, and since the EU shot itself in the foot with the sanctions, if it wants to continue buying Russian gas, it'll have to buy rubles first, with which to purchase it. For which it will use its precious metal reserves - another bull market opening right now.
All in all, I'm not sure if it'll be a Chinese century, but by the looks of it, it's definitely not gonna be western in any form or capacity.
I'll have to consider that too. Officially, as of early February, Russia and China have a considerable gas agreement - meaning Russia has anticipated the western boycott and possibly plans to turn to China as a long-term trading partner. As for vice versa, I don't think the west has enough leverage on China as a manufactured goods exporter to try and force it to stop selling to Russia, even ostensibly western brands. Likewise, the other countries above are in a comfortable enough strategic position to continue doing business as usual with both Russia and China, without fearing any overt retaliation from the west.