At a recent China-Russia economic forum, the director of a center for Russian studies pointed out the irrationality of the global economic governance system, saying that Western countries have overshadowed emerging economies in terms of discourse power.

The slow world economic growth since the 2008 financial crisis has highlighted the irrationality of the way actors operate and agendas are set in the current global economic governance system, said Guan Xueling, director of the Center for Russian Studies jointly founded by Renmin University of China and St. Petersburg State University, at the seventh China-Russia High-Level Economic Forum, which was held on Oct. 21.

When it comes to actors, Western countries have disproportionately large discourse power, while the role of emerging economies has been neglected. Regarding agendas, emphasis is put on economic growth, unemployment and social welfare of developed countries, while issues in economic development of emerging markets and developing countries have been overlooked, Guan said.

Addressing issues related to emerging and developing economies has become a priority for sustainable world economic growth, Guan added.

Victor Ryazanov, dean of the Department of Economic Theory at St. Petersburg University, said that financial speculation has become a tool to transfer economic crisis, pointing out the need for structural adjustments to the global economy.

To help improve the global economic governance system, China and Russia should strengthen bilateral cooperation under the BRICS mechanism, during the connection of the Silk Road Economic Belt to the Eurasian Economic Union, and within the Great Eurasia Partnership framework, Guan said.

Igor Maksimtsev, rector of St. Petersburg State University of Economics, said that the China-Russia relationship has entered a new stage and the two countries are playing a decisive role on the Eurasian continent.

However, many problems still loom large between the two sides, such as settlement in local currency and the improvement of cross-border infrastructure, Maksimtsev said.

The two countries are deepening cooperation in capacity and equipment manufacturing, promoting major projects like the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway and China-Russia oil and gas pipelines, he said, predicting that bilateral economic and trade cooperation will make big strides in the future.

Launched in 2002, the China-Russia High-Level Economic Forum has become a regular forum and a landmark project of cooperation between Renmin University and St. Petersburg State University of Economics. The Center for Russian Studies under Renmin University and St. Petersburg State University was founded in September 2015 in Beijing.