MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Bilateral trade between China and Russia over the course of the first seven months of this year has increased by almost 25 percent, compared to the same period of 2016, Chinese ambassador to Russia Li Hui said Monday.
"Bilateral trade has increased significantly. Over the first seven months of this year it reached $46.62 billion, which is 24.96 percent more than in the same period of the past year," Li said at the 2017 Moscow-Beijing: Silk Road Trade and Culture Exchange Forum, organized by Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency.
The ambassador also praised bilateral cooperation in the energy field, noting the implementation of the China-Russia east route gas pipeline, the Yamal liquefied natural gas plant project, and the joint construction of the Amur gas processing plant.
According to the Russian Federal Customs Service (FCS), trade turnover between Russia and China in 2016 totaled over $66 billion.
In early August, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said trade between Russia and China could reach $80 billion in 2017 and further increase to $200 billion by 2020, provided there were stable conditions for economic growth in both countries and facilitated conditions for bilateral trade.
