Steady Progress in Sino Russian Economic and Trade Cooperation

In recent years, China Russia relations have always maintained a healthy momentum of development. In 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and Russia reached a record US $190271 billion, with a year-on-year increase of 29.3%. China has remained Russia's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years. China Russia's economic and trade cooperation has steadily advanced, and cooperation in energy, investment, connectivity and other fields has achieved new results, providing assistance for the common development of the two countries.
Bilateral trade volume maintains growth
China's investment in Russia has grown rapidly. Chinese enterprises' investment in Russia is extending from traditional energy, agricultural and forestry development to more fields such as automobiles, household appliances, food processing, etc. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia, Russian-China economic and trade cooperation has been upgraded, and the bilateral trade volume has increased significantly, promoting the continuous development of bilateral relations. It is hoped that the Russian and Chinese business communities will further strengthen their docking, explore new ways of cooperation, and expand new areas of cooperation.
The Russian President of the China Russia Friendship, Peace and Development Commission, Mr. Titov, stated that Russia China economic and trade cooperation has achieved positive results, bilateral trade volume has maintained growth, more and more Chinese enterprises have entered Russia, and the market share of Chinese products has continuously increased.
According to Autostat, a Russian automotive market analysis agency, Chinese automotive companies have accurately introduced multiple models based on the characteristics of Russia's long winter and family size, which are popular in the Russian market. "The quality of Chinese brand cars has been continuously improving, and the number of Chinese brand cars purchased by Russian people has set a record in 2022," said Tselikov, the general manager of the agency.
In addition, Chinese household appliances, such as refrigerators, freezers, and washing machines, are also actively exploring the Russian market, especially Chinese smart home products, which are favored by local people.
Last November, at the 5th China International Import Expo, the Russian Ilim Group signed a cooperation agreement with Chinese enterprises on the first day, and will supply pulp and paperboard to China from 2023 to 2025. Alexei Chernyakov, Vice President of Ilim Group, said that the company's exports to China reached a record in 2022, and it is expected that exports to China will continue to increase in 2023.
In an interview, Russian Ambassador to China Morgulov said recently that since taking office as Ambassador to China, he has witnessed the popularity of Russian food in the Chinese market and the good prospects for both sides to strengthen cooperation and expand the export of agricultural products to China.
Interconnection projects benefit people's livelihood
On March 1, the Moscow Metro Grand Ring Line was put into operation. The project, with a total length of 71 kilometers, is the largest subway construction project in Russia. Among them, China Railway Construction Corporation undertook the construction of the southwest section project, including the construction of 3 stations and 9 shield tunnels. The Chinese side has high quality and fast construction speed, and its unique "Chinese style" design gives the Moscow subway, known as the "underground museum", a more diverse aesthetic feeling. Maria, Dalia, Evgenia, Galina, and Bolina - five shield machines specially developed by Chinese companies for construction conditions in extremely cold weather in Russia, are affectionately named by Russian owners after the five daughters in the local hit drama "Daddy's Daughters.".
In recent years, China and Russia have continuously deepened the docking of the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" and the Eurasian Economic Union, and various cooperation has been steadily advancing. The construction of the Chinese trade center "Huaming Garden" in Moscow has been completed; Major energy projects such as the China Russia Crude Oil Pipeline Second Line Project and the China Russia East Line Natural Gas Pipeline were successfully put into production; Interconnection projects such as "Binhai 1" and "Binhai 2" land sea intermodal international transportation corridors, China Mongolia Russia Economic Corridor, and China Europe Express are being promoted
In June last year, the Sino Russian Black River Blagoveshensk Highway Bridge was officially opened, ending the history of transportation between the two countries through ice roads or floating bridges. According to the statistics of the government of Amur Prefecture in Russia, from the official opening to the end of February this year, more than 18000 vehicles have passed through. Due to the increasing freight volume of the bridge, the Kanikurgan port in Russia, which serves the bridge, will be opened 24 hours from January 3 this year. The First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economic Development and External Relations of Amur State, Yekaterina Kileyeva, said that the bridge has become a center for attracting investors, and a number of projects aimed at promoting regional economic and social development are about to be launched.
Growing points of cooperation continue to emerge
In January of this year, the city of Medhi, located in Moscow, and the city of Texas, China, signed a city agreement on friendly and cooperative relations. Local cooperation between the two countries has added a new pair of "sisters". Georgi Filimonov, Vice President of the Moscow State Government in charge of agricultural affairs, revealed that the Moscow State Ministry of Agriculture and Food is readjusting its economic mechanism and hopes to carry out more practical cooperation with China.
China and Russia are each other's largest neighbors and both emerging market countries. The two sides have strong resilience, ample potential, and large space for cooperation. The enthusiasm for local cooperation between China and Russia has not diminished, and new growth points such as information technology, cross-border e-commerce, digital economy, and biomedicine have constantly emerged.
At the local cooperation level, the two mechanisms of "Northeast Far East" and "Yangtze River Volga River" are increasingly enriched and improved, and the vitality of cooperation platforms such as China Russia Expo and China Russia Local Cooperation Park is highlighted. China and Russia also have broad cooperation prospects in digital infrastructure construction, strengthening talent cultivation and industry investment, e-commerce and 5G fields.
Zhou Liqun, President of the Russian China General Chamber of Commerce, believes that digital economy, green development, biomedicine, etc. will become priority directions for the future development of Sino Russian economic and trade cooperation, injecting new impetus into the economic development of China and Russia. In February 2022, the two countries signed the "Road Map for the High Quality Development of Sino Russian Trade in Goods and Services", making path plans for achieving bilateral trade goals. In the future, enterprises of the two countries will further carry out investment cooperation in low-carbon energy and green infrastructure, actively promote green technology innovation, and jointly create new growth points for Sino Russian economic and trade cooperation.
"Russia attaches great importance to the digital transformation in the fields of health, education, architecture, transportation, and other fields." The first secretary of the Federation of Russian Science and Engineering Associations, Drukarenko Sergei Petrovic, stated that Russia and China have the conditions to develop and implement advanced projects in the field of digital economy, and jointly promoting cooperation in the field of digital economy will promote the sustainable development and prosperity of both countries.
Director of the First Asia Division of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Dmitry Dinoviev, said that there is still potential for bilateral cooperation between Russia and China. There are many points of convergence in economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, with obvious complementarities and extensive fields of practical cooperation. "We will strive to promote the development of bilateral relations and benefit the two peoples."