Economic ties now include investment

Sino-Russian economic cooperation is expected to reach a new level as Chinese companies accelerate their investments in the Russian market, while diversifying bilateral economic ties, which used to be trade-oriented, experts say.

"Cooperation in terms of investment between China and Russia has developed at a fast pace in recent years," Shen Danyang, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said on Tuesday at the ministry's news conference. "In 2012, China's investment in Russia soared 116.2 percent to $656 million."

Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the ministry's International Trade and Economic Cooperation Institute, said that investment cooperation represents a small proportion of the economic cooperation between China and Russia, which is still dominated by trade. But growth has been very fast and conditions will improve as more Chinese companies tap the Russian market, where it's becoming easier to invest.