China Plans to Strengthen Its Cybersecurity Cooperation With Russia

Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui has officially announced Beijing’s intention to strengthen strategic cooperation with Moscow in cybersecurity, signaling a significant expansion of the two nations’ digital partnership. 

The announcement comes as both countries seek to counter what they describe as Western digital hegemony while developing a shared framework for cyber governance.

Strategic Partnership Expansion

“While continuously enhancing its own governance of cyberspace, China will actively work to deepen cooperation in cybersecurity with countries around the world, including Russia,” Ambassador Zhang stated in a recent article published by Sputnik News. 

The ambassador emphasized China’s commitment to establishing a “multilateral, democratic, and transparent global internet governance system” that would ensure more equitable digital benefits worldwide.

This cybersecurity partnership builds upon an already robust strategic relationship between Moscow and Beijing. 

Russian and Chinese military departments share “common views, a common assessment of the situation and a common understanding” of joint strategic objectives, according to Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov in recent statements.

The cybersecurity cooperation announcement follows earlier commitments to expand collaboration in artificial intelligence technologies. 

Ambassador Zhang previously noted that both nations “agreed to strengthen dialogue and cooperation in the field of AI development, security and regulation”.

The planned cooperation will likely incorporate elements from China’s 2017 International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace, which outlines approaches to critical information infrastructure protection and cyber threat mitigation. 

Chinascope reports that the technical aspects of the partnership are expected to include joint protocols for Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) detection, cross-border cyber threat intelligence sharing, and coordinated incident response mechanisms.

“China supports assisting developing countries with cyber security capacity building, including technology transfer, critical information infrastructure protection,” according to Beijing’s strategic framework documents. 

This approach aligns with Russia’s interest in developing independent digital capabilities amid Western sanctions.

China and Russia: A United Front on Cyber Issues

The enhanced cooperation reflects China’s stated position that “cyberspace should not become a new arena for great power competition, but rather a new field for cooperation among countries”. 

The ambassador emphasized that cybersecurity presents “common challenges to all nations” and maintaining international order in cyberspace is a “shared responsibility”.

This isn’t the first time the two powers have aligned on cyber governance issues. In 2011, China and Russia jointly submitted a proposal for an International Code of Conduct for Information Security at the UN General Assembly. 

The proposal sought to establish international norms regarding rights and responsibilities of states in protecting information networks.

In his statements, Ambassador Zhang also leveled accusations against the United States, claiming it attempted to “inject malicious computer code into Russia’s power systems”. 

Zhang alleged that the US “openly designates other countries’ critical infrastructure as legitimate targets for its cyber forces”.

The irony of these accusations isn’t lost on security analysts, as US authorities previously identified Russian state actors as targeting energy infrastructure and other critical sectors.

Moscow and Beijing are strengthening their cybersecurity partnership, a move they portray as transparent and not targeting other nations, amidst growing defense industry collaboration. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasizes that this expanded cooperation reflects a “high level of mutual trust” between the two countries.

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