The bilateral trade between China and Russia, which has been growing for eight consecutive years since 1999, may exceed US$40 billion this year, a Chinese official said on Wednesday.

Bilateral trade was US$20.5 billion for the first half of this year and it is likely to exceed US$40 billion for the whole year, said Wang Jingsong, an official with the European department of China's Ministry of Commerce.

Wang made the remarks while attending a Sino-Russia automobile cooperation forum in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

Sino-Russia trade has recorded an average annual 28.6-percent growth since 1999. Russia is China's eighth largest trade partner, while China ranks third among Russia's trade partners.

Both countries have planned a trade volume of 60-80 billion dollars for 2010.

China's non-financial direct investment in Russia was 935 million dollars, while Russia had invested 610 million dollars in China by the end of last year.

(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2007)