The Russian Federation and China: a brief review of the history of bilateral relations

The article has the purpose to review the main historical events that have marked throughout history the relations between the Russian Federation and China. These two global players have passed through periods of equilibrium and colonization, civil wars and revolutions, friendship, confrontation and normalization, culminating by a strategic partnership that is considered one of the most intense form of cooperation ever known in the history of Sino-Russian relationship. The research is supported by a qualitative analysis based on the official bilateral treaties, agreements and declarations signed between the two countries since 1689 to the present. The analysis has highlighted the role of border and territorial disputes between the Russian Federation and China, which negatively marked their bilateral relations. The completion of the legal delimitation process of Sino-Russian border on its entire length is declared by the Russian authorities to be one of the most important achievements of the foreign policy towards China. Border demarcation has eliminated the potential threat of a territorial conflict and the last point of contention between Russia and China.