China Russia Photo: VCG

China and Russia could see further improvement in the bilateral trade structure in 2024, with the trade volume projected to reach new heights, a senior business head told the Global Times on Monday.

The remarks came as the two trading partners aim to further facilitate bilateral trade amid robust growth in trading volume, which reached a target of $200 billion in advance last year.

"Besides traditional trade in big-ticket items such as fossil fuels and natural minerals, Russian exports in the agricultural and food processing sectors are promising, and Russia has good strengths in those aspects," said Chen Zhigang, director general of the Russian-Chinese Business Park in St. Petersburg. "It is hoped that China could grant more access for those export items."

In 2023, bilateral trade reached $240.1 billion, surging 26.3 percent year-on-year and achieving the target of $200 billion ahead of schedule, demonstrating the strong resilience and broad prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Russia.

The year-on-year growth rate slowed down to 4.7 percent in the first four months of this year, but Chen said there is still "tremendous potential" for China-Russia trade and that annual trade volume could reach higher than $240 billion.

"Chinese importers have a good appetite for Russian grain, flour, oil seed, pork, beef, poultry and fish, and in these areas Russian exporters have good supply capacity," Chen said, noting that an uptick in Russian agricultural exports to China would contribute to a more balanced trade structure in China-Russia trade.

The logistics hurdles that impeded China-Russia trade in the past have largely been addressed now, Chen said, adding that the roads and railway crossings along the borders have now all opened and customs clearance has seen improvement in efficiency.

Bilateral business visits at the government level, corporate level and local levels have been brisk this year.

The 8th China-Russia Expo is set to start in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, from Thursday to May 21, attracting some 1,400 companies from 44 countries and regions and 21 Chinese provinces, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

In the first four months of this year, China-Europe freight trains departing from China-Russia border cities including Manzhouli in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Suifenhe and Tongjiang in Heilongjiang saw a 7 percent increase, according to data from the China State Railway Group on Monday. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Friday that China and Russia have the right to conduct normal economic and trade cooperation, and such cooperation should not come under external interference or constraint.

Lin noted that for a long period of time, the US has suppressed Chinese companies citing "risks to national security," but has failed to produce any evidence.

"We urge the US to stop overstretching the concept of national security, stop politicizing trade and tech issues or using them as weapons, and to stop abusing sanctions to suppress Chinese companies. China will continue to do what is necessary to defend the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies," Lin said.