Russia-China trade to reach major milestone

Beijing’s ambassador to Moscow expects the value to surge to $200 billion this year

Economic ties between Russia and China are showing steady growth despite the difficult international situation, Beijing's ambassador to Moscow said on Friday, predicting that trade could hit $200 billion this year.

“Russian-Chinese trade and economic cooperation shows excellent results and sustainable development, despite the tests associated with the pandemic, the global economic downturn and the difficult international and regional situation,” Zhang Hanhui told RIA Novosti news agency.

In the first seven months of the year, Beijing-Moscow trade surged by 29%, reaching $97.71 billion, the ambassador said, citing Chinese customs data.

During that time, China’s exports to Russia totalled $36.26 billion, marking an increase of 5.2% from the same period of 2021. Imports from Russia jumped by 48.8%, to reach $61.44 billion.

Listing some of the priorities for bilateral trade, Zhang highlighted energy, nuclear power, aviation, space, basic infrastructure, as well as digital technology, medicine, green energy, agriculture, and science and innovation.

READ MORE: China’s exports to Russia soar – data

“All this lays a powerful foundation for our trade and economic cooperation to reach a new level,” he said.

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