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 At the Eastern Economic Forum in the Pacific Port of Vladivostok
on Friday, Putin promised favorable business conditions and state
support to Asian and domestic investors willing to come to Russia's
most remote land.
"The Far East development strategy coincides with China's strategy
of north-east rebirth," Wang said. "(The) Russia-Chinese partnership
will definitely bring generous fruits."
But for Putin's campaign to attract Asian funds to Russia, timing
may be his worst enemy: the slowdown in the Chinese economy poses
risks.
Putin's turn to Asia comes at a time when relations with the West
have hit their lowest since the Cold War, following Moscow's
involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
 Russia needs money badly - sanctions and falling oil prices have hit
the economy hard, with gross domestic product expected to fall 3.3
percent this year after growing 0.6 percent in 2014. China's growth,
meanwhile, is slowing and its stock market falling, forcing Beijing
into rate cuts and a yuan devaluation to buttress the economy.
Ian Ivory, a partner at Golstblat BLP, said the Chinese slowdown
will hardest affect emerging markets which are providers of raw
materials.
"Russia is another classic example that will feel the pain, and
China will be a further negative drag on the Russian economy," Ivory
said in e-mailed comments.
Andrey Kuzyayev, a former head of overseas operations at Lukoil,
Russia's No.2 oil producer, played down the worries, saying the
development of the Far East was not a temporary whim, but a
long-term goal for the country.
"We need to make up time we have lost," he said. "Cycles in any
economy are the norm, not deviation. There will be a slowdown but
obviously there will be acceleration later."
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Chinese government's growth target is 7 percent this year, down from
7.4 percent in 2014 and the slowest in a quarter of a century.
Wang's address to the forum on Saturday was short and he left
immediately afterwards, in the middle of the session, followed by
Chinese officials, including Wang Yilin, chairman of the board at
China National Petroleum Corporation.
"This was unexpected but this was okay, we managed," said Boris
Titov, chairman of the Russian part of the China-Russia Friendship
Committee for Peace and Development.
"The first session was delayed and they (the Chinese delegation) had
already a briefing scheduled."
A CNPC official, who was accompanying Yilin but declined to give his
name, said only: "The schedule has changed."
(Additional reporting by Denis Dyomkin; Editing by Lidia Kelly and
Alison Williams)
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