This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Russia. Bilateral trade cooperation over the past seven decades has been especially productive.
China is Russia's biggest trading partner for the ninth consecutive year. Last year, bilateral trade surged 27.1 percent to hit a record of 107.1 billion U.S. dollars, the highest growth rate among China's top 10 trading partners, data from Chinese General Administration of Customs showed.
From January to August this year, bilateral trade between the two countries came in at 70.59 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 4.5 percent year-on-year. This came amid downward global economic growth.
In particular, China-Russia trade in services, enjoyed great momentum. The two-side trade services growth nearly doubled to 17.59 billion U.S. dollars last year, becoming a new engine for bilateral trade cooperation.
Investment and enterprise cooperation booming
Investment and business cooperation also achieved fruitful results between the two countries.
In the first seven months of 2019, China's direct investment in Russia expanded 13 percent year-on-year, covering a wide range of sectors ranging from energy, agriculture and forestry development to automobile and food processing. The investment approach is also diversified.
In 2016, Sinopec Group and China Silk Road Fund successively acquired stake in an LNG project of Russia's second-biggest gas producer Novatek to participate in the Yamal LNG project. In June and September 2017, Beijing Gas Group and China Huaxin Energy Company successively acquired stakes in sub-companies of Russia's Rosneft Oil.
Enterprises from both sides also tapped new opportunities through the 1st China International Import Expo (CIIE) in the Chinese city of Shanghai and the 4th Eastern Economic Forum in Russia's Vladivostok.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in the exhibition area of food and agricultural products from Russia at the First China International Import Expo, Shanghai, November 5, 2018. /VCG Photo
The two sides are actively promoting the establishment of the China-Russia joint science and technology innovation fund to facilitate investment cooperation in the sci-tech and innovation field.
New potential in Russia's Far East
Cooperation between the two countries has led to rapid development in Russia's Far East region, with both sides seeing increasing levels of trade and cross-border energy and infrastructure projects.
As a neighbor, China is a natural partner for Russia's Far East development within the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Laborers work at the construction site of China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline project in Heihe, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, August 20, 2019. /Xinhua Photo
In August 2018, Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev reached an agreement on further boosting cooperation between northeast China and the Russian Far East and Baikal Regions.
Two cross-border bridges will be completed this year to link China's Heilongjiang Province with Russia's Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Amur region, while two international transport corridors are under construction in the Primorsky Territory.
Construction of the northern section (Heihe-Changling) of the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline has entered its final stages on September 5 this year.
The enormous energy project, which will see a 3,371-kilometer long Chinese section between Shanghai and the border city of Heihe in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, is expected to provide China with 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia each year.
In additional, cooperation in new areas such as aerospace, Arctic development, cross-border e-commerce, and digital economy has also made notable progress.
With improving cooperation condition and more mutually beneficial practical projects, China and Russia are now working to achieve the target of 200 billion U.S. dollars in bilateral trade volume by 2024 set by leaders of the two countries.