Since the new Russia-China oil supply agreement took effect at the start of the year, PetroChina’s largest refinery has almost doubled the amount of Russian pipeline crude oil that it is processing. A senior industry source with direct knowledge of the volumes told Reuters, the 410,000-bpd PetroChina refinery in the northeast port city Dalian will process 260,000 bpd of Russian pipeline crude oi [...]

Beijing has stepped up its "railway diplomacy" by boosting its infrastructural projects simultaneously on three continents. Speaking to Sputnik, analysts highlighted China's competitive advantages and shed light on the obstacles the People's Republic is facing while implementing its initiatives. [...]

The Chinese Ambassador has praised the Russia-China relationship as “the best in the world,” but analysts tell RT it falls short of a close economic or military alliance. This may change if Washington chooses to confront Beijing.   [...]

A new report issued by the US-based research think tank RAND Corporation has suggested that under the threat of open confrontation with Russia and China, the United States is likely to suffer sufficient losses and eventually will be defeated. [...]

Author Alfred McCoy argues in his new book, “In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power,” that not only is the US’ status a superpower bound to be eclipsed by China, but also that America’s downfall will “be more abrupt than we imagine.” [...]

After threatening Pyongyang with a military option US President Donald Trump turned to Russia and China calling upon them to join his efforts to solve the North Korean dilemma, analysts told Sputnik, explaining what is behind the new US sanction policy targeting the world's financial institutions that work with North Korea. [...]

US President Donald Trump has arrived in Beijing for a two-day visit as part of his five-nation tour of Asia. Sputnik looks at how the relationship between the US and China has changed Richard Nixon's historic eight-day trip in 1972. [...]

The US decision to withdraw from UNESCO has prompted shock and concern from the international community. Observers say the move hints at Washington's growing international isolation, and that the vacuum will quickly be filled by China.   [...]

China raised the maximum speed of its popular Beijing-Shanghai bullet trains up to 350 kph Tuesday, following years of restrictions amid safety concerns. China's Fuxings have once again become the world's fastest trains with the journey between Beijing and Shanghai being reduced from 5 hours and 45 minutes to 4 hours and 28 minutes. [...]

The United States dare not enter a trade war with China because it would certainly lose as it has already lost global economic, manufacturing and purchasing power leadership, analysts told Sputnik. [...]

Commenting on the recent statement of White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon that the US is at 'economic war' with China, Hong Kong-based political scientist Joseph Cheng explained to Sputnik that the US, in fact, can't do much to prevent Beijing from growing into the world's economic leader and why the two countries should avoid a trade war. [...]

Amid expectations of the US launching investigations into China’s alleged theft of American intellectual property as well as unfair trade practices, Beijing appears unmoved by the imminent probe while US businesses fear reprisals in case the row unintentionally escalates. Washington is expected to soon announce investigations into how China tackles copyright protection, protectionism and mark [...]

The US-South Korean military drills which are due to start next Monday may dramatically deteriorate the situation on the Korean Peninsula, RIA Novosti contributor Gevorg Mirzayan writes, adding that the country with the EU's leading economy, Germany, has openly demonstrated its discontent with US policy in the region. [...]

America’s chronic trade deficit with the rest of the world is testimony to a failed US economy. In reality, the US has no-one else to blame but itself for such an historic failure. But in typical chauvinist fashion, the Trump administration has found a handy scapegoat by blaming China — its top bilateral trading partner. President Donald Trump this week ordered a probe into alleged tr [...]

China "will stay neutral" if North Korea launches missiles threatening the United States, according to an op-ed in the influential Chinese newspaper Global Times. At the same time, Beijing will respond if the US and South Korea strike first and try to overthrow the North Korean regime. [...]

The commander of the United States Pacific Fleet said Thursday that he would launch a nuclear strike on China if President Donald Trump ordered it. "The answer would be: Yes," Adm. Scott Swift said, responding to a hypothetical question at a security conference at the Australian National University, according to ABC News. [...]

As the West dithers, Russia is moving closer to China, and it increasingly appears the G7 will never be the G8 again. Soon after the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, advertisements began appearing around the city for the “G8 English School.” The proprietor was evidently using the conference, slated for the Black Sea city, to drum up interest in learning the language. [...]

Beijing has called on the US to stop its hacking practices against China and other countries, following a WikiLeaks release which reportedly exposes the CIA’s extensive hacking capabilities and lists Chinese routers as targets. [...]

China has become the world’s largest producer of solar energy, according to a new report from the country’s energy administration. The most populous nation on Earth nearly doubled their capacity for solar power in 2016, but they still have a very low per-capita rate for solar power use. [...]

Over the next three decades, the global economy will be dominated by China, and the US economy will lose steam and fall behind India, says consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Russia will become the leading European economy ahead of Germany, UK, and Italy with GDP of $7 trillion, according to a PwC report. [...]

While 2016 showed some promise that global politics in 2017 can improve, much will depend on the first steps of the US' new administration, according to the Head of the Russian Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev, who spoke to RIA Novosti about two possible models of global development in 2017. [...]

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force has begun practicing the deployment of medium-range Dongfeng (DF) missiles capable of reaching strategic US and Japanese bases near China, the latest iteration of Beijing’s war game-preparations for an armed conflict in the South and East China Seas. [...]