Bilateral trade between China and Russia surpassed the nations' target more than one year in advance this year due to hot-selling China-made electronics and cars and Russian energy.
In the first 11 months of this year, trade exceeded USD200 billion for the first time, surpassing the annual goal of USD200 billion by 2024, according to the latest data from China's General Administration of Customs. The target of doubling trade was set five years ago.
From January to November, trade increased by 27 percent to USD218.2 billion from a year earlier. China’s exports to Russia tallied USD100.3 billion, rising by 50 percent, whereas China’s imports from Russia were USD117.8 billion, up 12 percent.
China and Russia have deepened their economic and trade cooperation.
Since last year, China’s exports to Russia have grown rapidly, and some of the hot items are smartphones, automobiles, and home appliances, Yang Jie, general manager of Eurasian Railway International Freight Forwarding, said to Yicai. These products ensure that trains between China and Russia continue running, he added.
In the first half of this year, sales of Chinese car brands in Russia jumped by four times to 168,000 units from a year ago, and their combined market share rose to 46 percent from less than 11 percent, according to statistics from Russian financial institutions. Meanwhile, the market share of Chinese smartphones surged to 79 percent from 64 percent.
Even energy cooperation should increase as Russia is expected to raise its supply of natural gas to 100 billion cubic meters per year. The first pipeline between China and Russia was put into operation in late 2019 and it has delivered more than 30 billion cubic meters of gas to China. The second pipeline is on the agenda.
Although trade between China and Russia has reached a new high, foreign direct investment is relatively low, according to a report released by the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University and Russian research institutes yesterday.
The two nations announced in March that in the future, they will broaden their cooperation in production, as well as science and technology.
（Picture: Veer）
