China-Russia trade a true win-win

Analysts and government officials say China and Russia will see a surge in bilateral trade and other economic activities moving forward, driven by a series of mutually beneficial programs aimed at boosting regional connectivity, cross-border e-commerce and promoting green development.

According to Shu Jueting, spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce, trade and economic relations between the two countries have maintained good momentum, and cooperation in all areas continues to expand.

Shu said the scale and quality of trade and economic cooperation, advanced trade and investment liberalization and the facilitation and safeguarding of secure and stable supply chains are of paramount importance, along with full implementation of the China-Eurasian Economic Union trade and cooperation agreement.

China's General Administration of Customs announced in mid-May that the Far East Russian port of Vladivostok is now a cross-border transit hub for domestic trade shipments from Jilin province, which will further bolster economic growth in China's northeastern region.

Bai Ming, deputy director of international market research at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, said that starting on June 1, goods shipped from Jilin to domestic destinations can travel through Vladivostok — a development that will expand collaboration on port construction and logistics, thereby boosting the economic dynamism of Northeast China and Russia's Far East.

As both countries deepen their mutual political trust and expand their convergence of interests, they will continue to enhance market access and mutually foster high-quality economic growth, said Li Yonghui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies.

The trade in bulk commodities, including energy, minerals and agriculture, as well as expansion of the digital economy, manufacturing and cross-border e-commerce, sparked a 29.3 percent year-on-year increase in bilateral trade to $190.27 billion in 2022. Ministry of Commerce figures confirm that as of the end of 2022 China has been Russia's top trading partner for 13 consecutive years.

Thanks to their complementary trade structures, the value of China-Russia imports and exports soared 41.3 percent on a yearly basis to $73.15 billion in the first four months of 2023.

Metals, crude oil, natural gas, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, and agricultural and chemical products are Russia's primary shipments to China, while China exports mainly construction machinery, manufacturing equipment, steel, electronics, textiles, garments and household appliances to Russia.

Chinese-made passenger vehicles have also become popular in Russia in recent years, according to information released by China's General Administration of Customs.

Confronting a torrent of global challenges, including protectionism and geo-economic fragmentation, the two countries have enriched their business ties by jointly injecting more growth impetus to shore up multilateralism and free trade, said Wei Jianguo, vice-chairman of Beijing-based China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

"The partnership between China and Russia in the fields of energy and minerals, agriculture and forestry development, manufacturing, trade in services and other fields has been solidly boosted and their industrial chains have been continuously extended," said Wei.

Echoing that sentiment, Song Kui, president of the Harbin-based Contemporary China-Russia Regional Economy Research Institute, said the two countries have signed a memorandum on multilateral and regional economic cooperation, enhanced coordination and cooperation within multilateral frameworks such as the World Trade Organization, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization while actively promoting cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative and growth of the Eurasian Economic Union.

BRICS is an acronym for the five major emerging countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which together represent about 42 percent of the global population and 32 percent of the world's GDP, according to Beijing-headquartered China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.