According to Chinese statistics, the bilateral trade volume between China and Russia in the first four months of this year was 402.In the first four months, it exceeded $40 billion。Thanks to the joint efforts of the two sides, China-Russia economic and trade cooperation has withstood the test of COVID-19 and shown strong resilience。The surveyed experts generally expect that China-Russia trade will continue to maintain its growth momentum in 2021, and the annual trade scale is expected to hit a new high。
Maintain growth momentum
In 2020, China-Russia economic and trade cooperation withstood the test of the epidemic, and bilateral trade exceeded the $100 billion mark for three consecutive years。Since the beginning of this year, bilateral trade between China and Russia has recovered and returned to the track of positive growth。
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng introduced the main characteristics of bilateral trade between China and Russia at a routine press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce, saying that the scale reached a new high in the same period in history。According to Chinese statistics, the bilateral trade volume between China and Russia from January to April was 402.$100 million, an increase of 19.For the first time in history, it exceeded $40 billion in the first four months, an increase of 21 percent compared to the same period in 2019.2 percent, double the figure for the same period in 2016。
Second, imports from Russia resumed growth。China's imports grew by 7% in the first four months.This is the first time since May last year that it has changed from negative to positive, providing important support for bilateral trade growth。
Third, the trade structure has improved。In the first quarter of this year, the import and export of mechanical and electrical products and high-tech products between China and Russia increased by more than 50%, much higher than the growth of bilateral trade in the same period。
Liu Huaqin, director of the Eurasian Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, analyzed to the International Business Daily reporter that the growth of Sino-Russian trade under the epidemic benefited from the two countries accelerating the process of resuming work and production and gradually getting rid of the impact of the epidemic on the economy。At the same time, China has opened its market wider and made efforts to increase imports from Russia。"It is expected that the bilateral trade volume between China and Russia can return to the pre-epidemic level this year, or even exceed the pre-epidemic level。"Liu Huaqin said。
Li Yonghui, deputy director of the Russian Diplomatic Research Office of the Institute of Russian Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also analyzed the International Business Daily reporter that the growth of Sino-Russian trade under the epidemic has not come easily, and the quality of trade has also risen。These achievements cannot be achieved without the strategic guidance and promotion of the two heads of state。China-russia economic and trade cooperation is highly complementary, with outstanding cooperation in the field of energy and major strategic projects contributing greatly to China-Russia trade。
Li Yonghui is also optimistic about the trend of China-Russia trade this year, and it is expected that the trade volume between the two countries can continue to remain at about $100 billion or even more。"In addition to major strategic projects, cooperation between the two sides in agriculture, cross-border e-commerce and transportation will also promote rapid growth in trade between the two countries.。In addition, in the face of the epidemic, the two sides have actively played the role of China-Europe freight trains, and rail and rail combined transport has developed rapidly。The wider radiation of logistics transport routes and more choices have strongly supported the development of bilateral trade between China and Russia。”
Towards the $200 billion target
In recent years, bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and Russia has steadily expanded in scale and improved in quality, reaching a new level with the characteristics of "all-round, deep and wide-ranging" becoming increasingly prominent。China has been Russia's largest trading partner for 11 consecutive years, while Russia is China's 10th largest trading partner。
The Joint Communique of the 25th Regular Meeting of the Chinese and Russian Prime Ministers adopted at the end of last year pointed out that，The two sides will further strengthen economic, trade and investment cooperation，Promote the signing of the Roadmap for the High-quality Development of China-Russia Trade in Goods and Services until 2024，Strive to optimize the structure，Foster new growth areas of trade，We will further improve the trade, investment and business environment，We will achieve the development goal of expanding trade。
New growth areas are emerging in China-Russia bilateral trade，The trade volume of agricultural products between China and Russia hit a record high in 2020，China has become Russia's largest export market for agricultural products and meat."Home economy" drives the rapid growth of exports of electronic products such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones to Russia;The two sides have made positive progress in cooperation in 5G, cloud services, smart travel and other fields，New forms and models of cooperation such as cross-border e-commerce are on the rise。
Liu Huaqin said，Towards the target of $200 billion in trade，China and Russia should further tap the potential of cooperation，Expand the space and areas of cooperation，It has expanded from traditional fields such as energy and mineral resources to agriculture, processing and manufacturing, and high-tech fields，Expanding from trade in goods to trade in services，We will vigorously develop cross-border transportation, educational services, medical services, cultural services, sports services and service outsourcing，We will actively foster new growth areas of trade。
Li Yonghui believes that it is necessary to pay attention to the diversification of trade, especially to increase investment in service trade, carry out cooperation across the industrial chain, and tap the cooperation potential of the Internet, finance, agriculture and other fields。At the same time, efforts should be made to improve the quality of economic and trade cooperation and strengthen the internal driving force of China-Russia cooperation。
"The next step，The Commerce Department will continue to work closely with the Russian side，Make every effort to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state，We will deepen cooperation on major strategic projects，Expand two-way investment，We will promote the integration of industrial and supply chains，We will create new growth areas such as scientific and technological innovation, biomedicine, green and low-carbon，We will accelerate the upgrading of China-Russia economic and trade relations，We are making continuous progress towards the target of US $200 billion in bilateral trade。Peak indicates。