China and Russia are expected to double bilateral trade within five years, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov.

"The parties federal agencies and experts have seriously worked on a program for broadening trade and economic cooperation," Zhukov told China Daily.

"Implementation of the program is expected to at least double Sino-Russian trade in the next five years."

Russia hopes to strengthen trade ties with China, in particular it hopes to increase the trade of high value machines and commodities.

Imports and exports between China and Russia have grown rapidly in the past several years, according to statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

Trade hit US$21.2 billion last year, reflecting an increase of 34.7 percent over the previous year. China's imports from Russia grew by 24.7 percent year-on-year to US$12.1 billion in 2004, while the country's exports to Russia rose 51 percent year-on-year to US$9.1 billion.

The two economies complement each other, as Russia supplies China with raw materials such as mineral fuel, timber, fertilizers, ferrous and nonferrous metals, cellulose and ores, while it demands finished products, such as electrical equipment, from China.

Russia is also interested in attracting investment from Chinese enterprises.

"We offer the most attractive terms to Chinese companies," Zhukov said, adding that the country welcome Chinese investment in a wide range of areas from processing and timber industries, to agriculture and infrastructure projects.

Local Russian governments organize regular investment forums to showcase Russian regions to Chinese companies and to discuss regional projects.

"Russia-Chinese investment cooperation will be given priority within the framework of events in the Year of Russia in China in 2006," Zhukov said.

He said the two sides should set up centres to assist investors. It could also co-ordinate the implementation of Sino-Russian projects and provide information back-up to Chinese enterprises.

The two countries still needed to standardize trade orders, improve relative measures to guarantee the trading system and balance general trade with the processing trade in order to achieve the goal jointly set by both governments, said Liu Huaqin, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a MOFCOM think tank.

For example, the expert said Sino-Russian two-way trade was suffering from "grey clearance."

The "one-stop" services offered by some companies, close to customs officials in Russia, provide foreign exporters with favorable tariff policies and do not ask for complex clearance documents. This is called "grey clearance" and is a common system used by Chinese dealers who want to enter the Russian market.

The expert said the two sides should improve various aspects concerning the trade service system.

"Some problems exist in customs procedures, quarantine, settlement, insurance and the resolution to trade disputes to a certain degree, blocking bilateral trade."

(China Daily November 2, 2005)