In the past five months, China reported 10 billion US dollars in trade with Russia, up 29.7 percent over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

An official from the ministry said that the rapid growth of trade and economic cooperation has become an important part of bilateral relations.

Since 1999, bilateral trade has grown by 30 percent annually. In 2004, bilateral trade volume reached a record high of 21.23 billion US dollars.

The trade structure has also improved. The proportion of machinery and electronic products in China's exports has grown yearly. In 2004, 21.5 percent of China's exports to Russia were machinery and electronic products. The figure even increased to 25. 2 percent in the first five months of this year.

Various investment and economic cooperation projects have been launched or are in negotiation. During "Russian Business Day" at the Harbin Economic Trade Fair, which closed earlier this month, companies from the two countries signed 19 agreements on trade, investment, and economic cooperation, involving a total sum of 940 million US dollars.

In 2004, leaders of the two countries brought up a long-term blueprint for economic cooperation. By 2010, bilateral trade is expected to reach 60 to 80 billion US dollars, and China is projected to invest 12 billion US dollars in Russia by 2020.

The official noted that there are still some problems lingering in the meeting of the target, citing an occasionally disorderly trade environment, an insufficiently diversified trade structure, and small-scale reciprocal investment.

The official said the two countries are pursuing negotiations on improving the investment environment in both countries to protect the interests of investors.

Source: Xinhua