The article presents the political aspects of the interaction of Russia and China in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Singling out the most important event of the APEC in every period of history, the author introduces them to readers through the prism of the documents of that time. The issues such as the process of Russia’s becoming a member of APEC, the APEC summit-2012 in Vladivostok, a comparison of the APEC summit-2001 in Shanghai with the APEC summit-2014 in Beijing were examined. Considering the factor of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the author analyzes the challenges for Russia and China to ensure their national interests and to implement government strategies. It is concluded that APEC has a positive effect for the mutual development of the countries in Pacific region, which is particularly important for the implementation of strategies of Russia and China, to strengthen their position in the Asia-Pacific region.