China-Russia Trade: SCO's role in bolstering trade & cooperation between the two countries

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Europe

02:22

One of the aims of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is to build better business relationships. And it's a great opportunity for China and Russia to bolster cooperation as the two countries still trade less with each other than with other parts of the world. Lucy Taylor reports from Moscow.

They need careful eyes and steady hands But these machinists can sew at speed - making hundreds of garments a day. And their workplace in Moscow may embrace Russian culture, but these orders are for a large company from China, which has just moved its production to Russia.

GAI SHI LING GENERAL MANAGER, SOVATEX "It's about logistics, it's about saving time and also it means we don't need to pass through Customs. And also wages in China are rising whereas here they are cheaper. So that influenced us too."

Russia and China do about 80 billion dollars of trade a year. About a fifth of Russia's imports come from China, especially consumer goods. And Russia in turn supplies energy it is keen to sell to China's emerging industries.

LUCY TAYLOR MOSCOW "Both countries say their cooperation is leading to growing trade - with a target to increase it to 100 billion dollars a year. But despite being neighbors, Russia and China both still sell more to the European Union - and the signs are that their long-term ambition could be to rely more on each other and less on the rest of the world."

Russia and China are both part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a bloc of Eurasian countries which represents a quarter of the world's population. It is promoting trade in local currencies as well as the US dollar. And trying to overcome barriers to business.

PROFESSOR NATALIA PECHERITSA INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR MOSCOW INTERNATIONAL HIGHER BUSINESS SCHOOL "To reduce bureaucratic procedures, somehow to open the gates to small and medium business, somehow to eliminate some certifications. I think that the decisions made at the top level are beautiful and perfect, but when they go down to the executors, now there are a lot of barriers."

At this company, they say their international cooperation is working. These products will be made and sold in Russia But it's happening because of two firms working together across thousands of miles. Lucy Taylor, CGTN in Moscow.