Chinese vector of Russia's foreign policy: based on sociological research materials

Background. The eastern direction of Russia's foreign policy has always been present in the regional priorities, but it has become especially relevant after the changes that have taken place in the international arena in recent years, which was primarily due to the new political realities and significantly increased sanctions pressure on Russia from Western countries. This necessitated a shift of economic and political emphasis to the eastern direction. Today Russia and China have entered a new format of strategic interaction. The aim of the article is to study the evolution of conceptual provisions of Russia's foreign policy towards China and sociological analysis of the attitude of Russians and young people to building modern Russian-Chinese relations. Materials and methods. The conceptual parameters of the Chinese vector in the foreign policy course of the Russian Federation are considered on the basis of the analysis of the Concepts of Russia's foreign policy. The study of the perceptions of Russians and modern student youth of Russian-Chinese relations is carried out based on the materials of the author's qualitative and quantitative research in 2024–2025 and the results of All-Russian polls of Russian Public Opinion Research Centre 2023–2024. Results. Based on the study of the Concepts of Russia's foreign policy, the evolution of its eastern vector is presented. The materials of author's and all-Russian researches allowed to reveal the attitude of Russians, including young people, to the construction of Russian-Chinese relations at the present stage. Conclusions. The Eastern vector in Russia's foreign policy is dominant today. Russia views China as an equal strategic partner. For China, Russia is one of the favorable partners on the continent. Russians. Among Russians and in the youth environment there is support for the eastern direction of Russia's foreign policy, and the forced nature of this “U-turn” is emphasized. Young people consider China as a partner, to a greater extent, in the economic sphere, and contemporary Russian-Chinese relations are characterized as friendly. At the same time, today's young people are also concerned about the possible future hegemony of China and the economic threats that may arise in Russian-Chinese relations.