Chinese and Russian delegates gathering here for talks over bilateral cooperation have agreed to further strengthen the economic and trade ties between the two giant neighbors.

During the discussions, held Tuesday under the framework of the regular meetings between the two countries' prime ministers, participants noted that the successful economic and trade relations have become a major foundation for the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.

Bilateral trade has maintained good momentum, while the scale of mutual investment and economic technology cooperation has been constantly enlarged, the officials said.

Meanwhile, key joint projects, including those in energy and transportation, are making progress, and the two countries' enterprises are showing an increasing interest in cooperation, they said.

Chinese Deputy Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng said the China-Russia economic and trade relationship is "at a crucial transition stage" from scale expansion to quality improvement.

"In the long haul, for their common interests, the two sides need to adjust the growth speed, optimize trade structure and change the growth model," Gao said.

With the spirit of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, the two partners should take advantage of Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization to open up new fields, explore new channels and foster new growth in trade cooperation, Gao said.

In addition, China and Russia should try their best to get rid of negative external influences, thus "preparing for the economic and trade cooperation entering a new stage of long-term, stable growth of high quality," Gao said.

Andrei Belousov, the Russian minister of economic development, urged both countries to overcome the global economic turbulence and expand their mutual investment.

China and Russia should also promote cooperation on special economic zones and timber processing and increase the proportion of electromechanical equipment and high-tech productions in bilateral trade, he said.

Against the background of the tottering global economic growth and mounting eurozone debt crisis, the two partners should further improve the quality and level of their economic cooperation, Belousov said.

In 2011, trade volume between China and Russia reached a record 79.25 billion U.S. dollars, marking a 42.7 percent year-on-year increase, Chinese Customs figures showed.

Bilateral trade turnover amounted to 66.17 billion dollars in the first nine months of 2012, marking a 14.2 percent rise over the same period last year.

Currently, Russia is the ninth largest trade partner of China, while China tops the list of Russia's trade partners.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)