The volume of trade between Russia and China from January to November this year has already exceeded $130 billion and is set to hit a new historic high by the end of 2021.
“Despite the objective anti-epidemic restrictions, practical cooperation is actively developing. Mutual trade turnover in 11 months has already exceeded $130 billion, continues to grow and, undoubtedly, a new record will be set at the end of the year,” Russia’s Ambassador in China Andrey Denisov said on Tuesday.
The official added that both countries are working closely to reach $200 billion in annual trade turnover in the nearest future.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held video talks amid escalating tensions between the two nations and the West. Following the discussions, the Kremlin revealed that the two leaders had agreed to develop a shared financial system to reduce reliance on US-dominated platforms.
Speaking to journalists at his annual end-of-year press conference on Thursday, Putin called China Russia’s number-one partner, adding that “we have very trusting relations and it helps us build good business ties as well.” He also praised China’s economy and forecast that “by 2035-2050, it will have surpassed [the US] and will become the leading economy in the world, according to all metrics.”
China has been the main importer from Russia of non-primary non-energy goods since 2016. According to the Russian Export Center (REC), deliveries of these goods have been growing for seven consecutive years, and that trend has continued through 2021. Products that showed the largest growth are copper, aluminum, direct reduced iron, copper wire, fertilizers, lumber, oilseeds, crustaceans, paper and cardboard.
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