Lyn Frans
“We, together with my colleague and friend President XI Jinping, set the goal to reach $200 billion of mutual trade with China this year. We have exceeded this level,” Putin said.
Russia and China have fulfilled the task of increasing bilateral trade turnover to $200 billion earlier than planned, Chinese President Xi Jinping said during talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Beijing. According to the Chinese leader, bilateral trade reached $218.28 billion in December 2023.
“The task of raising bilateral trade turnover to $200 billion, which [the Russian] President and I have set five years ago, has been fulfilled earlier than planned, “He said adding that this reflects the positive dynamics of cooperation between the two states.
Trade between the two countries has long been dominated by energy, machinery, electronics and more recently cars and other transportation equipment, with China basically trading its machines for Russia’s oil and gas.
For the first quarter of this year, machinery and electrical equipment accounted for 60 percent of China’s exports to Russia, while energy and mineral resources accounted for 79 percent of China’s imports from Russia.
Bilateral trade increased more than 30 percent in 2022 to reach $190 billion, mostly as a result of Chinese purchases of Russian oil, gas and coal.
Other non-energy categories, from beer and seafood to industrial machinery, cars and appliances, are increasing too. In April, exports of cars and auto components rose more than 500 percent from a year ago to $2 billion.
Chinese brands, from condiments to appliances, are increasingly appearing in Russian supermarkets. Trade in household items grew, with mattress sales jumping 256 percent to $2.1 million and exports of washing machines rising 534 percent to $28 million. Chinese shipments of seafood also increased more than 300 percent to $15 million.
“China-Russian economic and trade exchanges are more politically oriented, with mainly state-owned enterprises leading the way,” said Wan Qingsong, a research fellow at the Center for Russian Studies of Shanghai-based East China Normal University.
“Private companies are less motivated to tap that market due to a lack of immediate returns. When there’s not enough investment, China and Russia will find it hard to go beyond what they have now,” he said.
Additional Source: Reuters
