Complementary trade ties between Russia and China to grow stronger

China-Russia economic and trade cooperation will advance in the coming years, as both countries are actively shoring up business ties in commodity trade, regional connectivity and other emerging fields, said government officials and experts.

Recent data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed that in the first two months of 2023, trade between China and Russia surged 36.4 percent year-on-year to 232.5 billion yuan ($34.07 billion), indicating continuous and strong growth momentum in bilateral economic cooperation.

As both countries deepen their mutual political trust and expand the convergence of interests, they are leveraging their comparative strengths to widen market access and jointly promote high-quality growth, said Li Yonghui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies.

Li said both sides have been consolidating the trade in bulk commodities, including energy and minerals, and expanding new growth points in the digital economy, biomedicine, cross-border e-commerce and trade in services.

Despite challenges ranging from waning global demand for goods to geo-economic shocks, China-Russia trade surged 29.3 percent year-onyear to $190.27 billion in 2022. China has been Russia’s top trading partner for 13 consecutive years as of the end of 2022, according to customs statistics.

Metal, crude oil, natural gas, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, agricultural and chemical products are Russia’s main exports to China. In return, China exports mainly construction machinery, manufacturing equipment, steel, electronics, textiles, garments and household appliances. Chinese-made passenger vehicles and trucks have also become popular in Russia in recent years.

Sharing a long border, China and Russia enjoy high economic complementarity and great cooperation potential. More Russian companies have shown a willingness to cooperate with their Chinese counterparts, said Zhang Hanhui, the Chinese ambassador to Russia.

“We believe that China-Russia trade will reach new heights in 2023,” he said, noting that institutions and enterprises from both sides have participated in the China International Import Expo, the China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, the Eastern Economic Forum and the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, achieving synergy in demand for cooperation and unleashing cooperative potential.

Shu Jueting, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Commerce, said at a news conference in Beijing in February that for the next step, the ministry will work with relevant government departments as well as with Russia to keep bilateral trade and economic ties on track to achieve steady development.

Song Kui, president of the Contemporary China-Russia Regional Economy Research Institute, said: “There is more space for the two countries to further expand their business ties this year. For instance, Russia has announced plans to build special economic zones in its

Far East regions, which will spur the country’s mineral and agricultural exports to China.”

The Heihe-Blagoveshchensk cross-border highway bridge over the Heilong River opened to traffic in June. The new channel, a milestone in infrastructure connectivity, has connected China’s northeastern provinces and Russia’s Far East amid flourishing economic and trade cooperation.

The China-Russia trading structure has improved and new forms of business are booming, said Chen Chao, deputy director-general of the department of international trade and economic affairs at the Ministry of Commerce.

He said that cross-border e-commerce cooperation between the two countries has developed rapidly, with the construction of warehouses and e-commerce platforms in Russia contributing to sustained growth in bilateral trade.

Thanks to multilateral frameworks such as the World Trade Organization, the BRICS grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, China and Russia have heightened the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union in recent years, said Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the Economic Policy Commission with the China Association of Policy Science in Beijing.