China-Russia economic, trade cooperation in steady development

Photo shows a metro station of the Big Circle Line constructed by a Chinese company in Moscow, Russia. [People's Daily/Yu Hongjian]

China-Russia relations have always maintained a healthy development momentum over recent years. Last year, bilateral trade between the two countries rose 29.3 percent year-on-year to a record high of nearly $190.3 billion. China has remained Russia's largest trading partner for 13 years in a row.

The two countries have witnessed steady progress in their economic and trade cooperation, as well as new achievements in cooperation in fields such as energy, investment and connectivity, which contributed to their common development.

China's investment in Russia is growing rapidly, expanding from traditional fields such as energy, agriculture and forestry to more sectors, including automobile, home appliance and food processing.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Alexei Gruzdev noted the upgraded economic and trade cooperation between Russia and China, as well as the significant rise in bilateral trade, will constantly drive the Russia-China relations.

Boris Titov, chairman of the Russian side of the China-Russia Friendship Committee for Peace and Development (CRFCPD) noted that Russia-China economic and trade cooperation has achieved positive results and bilateral trade kept growing. The market share of Chinese products was on a rise in Russia as more Chinese businesses entered, he said.

According to Russian analytic agency Autostat, Chinese automakers have launched multiple products tailored for the Russian market, which were welcomed by Russian consumers. Autostat's general director Sergey Tselikov said that the quality of Chinese automobiles kept increasing, and the number of Chinese vehicles bought by Russian consumers hit a record high in 2022.

In addition, Chinese manufacturers are also expanding their businesses in Russia, selling home appliances such as refrigerators, freezers and washing machines to Russian buyers. Chinese smart home products, in particular, are very popular among Russian consumers.

A freight train carrying construction materials and home appliances departs from Beijing for Moscow, Russia, March 16, 2023. [People's Daily Online/Sun Lijun]

Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov said in a recent interview that he had witnessed the popularity of Russian food in the Chinese market since he took office, from which he saw the bright prospects for enhancing bilateral cooperation and expanding Russian agricultural exports to China.

Moscow opened the 71-km Big Circle Line (BCL), Russia's biggest metro line construction project, on March 1 this year. The southwest section of the BCL was constructed by China Railway Construction Corporation, which includes three stations and nine tunnels.

The high-quality and efficient construction by the Chinese side has further diversified the charm of the Moscow Metro, which is dubbed as an "underground museum," with unique Chinese-style designs.

China and Russia have continuously deepened the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Eurasian Economic Union over the recent years, with each cooperation project in steady progress.

Park Huaming of Chinese Business Center, a trade center in Moscow, has completed construction.

Major energy projects, including the second line for the China-Russia oil pipeline project and the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline project, have been put into operation.

Projects in connectivity are well underway, including international transportation corridors, the Mongolia-China-Russia economic corridor, and the China-Europe freight train service.

China and Russia are each other's largest neighbors and emerging markets in the world, and the cooperation between the two countries boasts strong resilience, ample potential and wide space.

A Russian merchant buys products in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang province, Feb. 2, 2023. [People's Daily Online/Gong Xianming]

Their cooperation at the sub-national level is booming. Collaboration in information technology, cross-border e-commerce, digital economy, biomedicine, and other emerging areas are showing strong momentum.

China and Russia have continuously improved and enriched the "Yangtze River-Volga River" and "China's Northeast-Russia's Far East" regional cooperation mechanisms. Sub-national cooperation platforms between the two countries such as the China-Russia Expo are showing vitality.

Besides, China and Russia also enjoy broad prospects of cooperation in digital infrastructure construction, talent training, industrial investment, e-commerce and 5G technology.

Zhou Liqun, president of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia, believes that the digital economy, green development and biomedicine will become new growth points of China-Russia economic and trade cooperation and inject new momentum into the two countries' economic development.

The two sides signed the roadmap for high-quality development of China-Russia trade in goods and services in February 2022, which charted the course in achieving bilateral trade targets.

Enterprises from both sides will expand their cooperation on low-carbon energy and green infrastructure, actively advance innovation in green technology and foster new growth points for China-Russia economic and trade cooperation.

Georgy Zinoviev, head of the First Asian Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that Russia-China bilateral cooperation still enjoys potential and the two countries are complementary to each other. The two countries will work to promote further development of the ties between the two countries and benefit the two peoples, he said.