Medvedev: Russia-China Annual Bilateral Trade Potential US$200 Billion

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has set a new target for bilateral trade between Russia and China, saying that a figure of US$200 billion is quite achievable.

“Bilateral trade is actively developing, and this year we will approach the level of US$100 billion, which seemed fantastic to us 10 years ago. Now we are speaking about other levels, about the possibility of reaching US$200 billion of trade turnover, and I believe this figure to be quite realizable for our countries if we actively promote cooperation in the agreed spheres.” Medvedev said at a press conference after the 23rd regular meeting between the Russian and Chinese government heads, held on the sidelines of the first China International Import Expo Fair in Shanghai.

The Russian prime minister reported that he agreed with his Chinese counterpart on a number of additional steps for support for small businesses, the development of electronic trade and the development of payment systems. Medvedev also promised to continue work to lift barriers in different spheres, not just in the bilateral format. He stressed the importance of linking the Eurasian Economic Union and China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Medvedev added that the two countries have a number of investment projects in the energy, oil, gas and oil refining industries, high technologies, including manned space navigation, the establishment of new materials and the creation of artificial intelligence. It was decided to pay special attention to issues of developing the Far East and wood processing. There are special prospects in agriculture, Medvedev said. “We increased the exports of Russian agricultural products to China, and at the same time the Chinese partners are working in the same direction, and we are definitely interested in implementing new projects, including exporting Russian soybeans to China and a number of other areas, that is the development of transport-logistics capabilities,” he explained.

“Russia-China trade has been increasing significantly these past 24 months,” says Chris Devonshire-Ellis of Dezan Shira & Associates. “It has become one of the fastest-growing trade corridors in the world. A Russian economy looking to sell to Asia instead of the West and a soft ruble value is making Russian-made goods very good value right now. This trend, including Chinese and other Asian businesses investing in Russia will continue for some years to come. Despite sanctions, Russia is a good place to make money right now”.

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