The 26th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum opened in Russia on Wednesday. 

Held annually since 1997, the forum has become a leading global platform for the business community to discuss critical economic issues facing Russia, emerging markets and the world. 

In 2022, the forum had over 14,000 participants from 131 countries and regions worldwide, and agreements worth 5.67 trillion ruble (about $67.5 billion) were signed.

As neighboring countries and major emerging markets, China and Russia have fully unleashed their cooperation potential, with institutions and enterprises from both sides actively participating in economic events held by the two countries.

China-Russia trade was up 40.7 percent year on year in the first five months, data from China's General Administration of Customs showed. The bilateral trade hit a record-high of $190.27 billion last year, with China remaining Russia's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years.  

In 2022, China replaced Europe to become Russia's biggest buyer of its energy products. China's exports of mechanical and electrical products, automobiles and auto parts to Russia have all seen substantial growth.

Chinese enterprises' investment in Russia is extending from energy, agriculture and forestry to the manufacturing sector, such as automobiles, home appliances and food processing.

The Heihe-Blagoveshchensk cross-border highway bridge opened to the traffic in June 2022, while the Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye cross-border railway bridge was put into use in December 2022.

The maiden voyage of the Quanzhou-Far East shipping line began in September 2022. In March 2023, the 70-km-long Big Circle Line, which is the largest subway line in the world and was partly built by China's Railway Construction Corporation, opened in Moscow. 

Data editor: Yao Nian

Graphics designer: Mukesh Mohanan