As Russia pivots to the east, trade with China is booming
Trade turnover between Russia and China has been rapidly growing, rising 30 percent to reach $77 billion from January to September, statistics from China’s General Administration of Customs show.
The volume of exports from China to Russia has grown by almost 13 percent, exceeding $35 billion. Imports of Russian goods surged by around 40 percent to $42 billion, said the customs service.
Last month, trade turnover between the two countries was more than $9 billion.
China is Russia’s largest trading partner, accounting for 15 percent of Russian international trade in 2017. The two countries expect bilateral trade to hit $100 billion this year and plan to steadily boost it to $200 billion by 2024.
They are also promoting settlements in rubles and yuan, bypassing the US dollar and other Western currencies.
READ MORE: Russia plans to boost trade with China to $200bn by 2024
In 2017, nine percent of payments for supplies from Russia to China were made in rubles; Russian companies paid 15 percent of Chinese imports in renminbi (yuan).
Just three years ago, the numbers were two and nine percent, respectively. The two nations have also established a Russian-Chinese investment fund worth 68 billion yuan (almost $10 billion) to develop trade, economic investment, and scientific cooperation.
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