Trade turnover between Russia and China reached a record figure in 2022 despite the consequences of the pandemic and sanctions pressure, this year it will exceed $200 billion, Russian President Vladimir Putin said speaking at the Russian-Chinese talks on Tuesday.
"Despite the consequences of the pandemic and sanctions pressure, trade in 2022 reached a record high of $185 billion. It is expected that this year Russia and China will not only reach the $200 billion trade volume that we agreed with our friends a few years ago, but they will also surpass this milestone," Putin stressed.
The Russian leader added that over the past year, the volume of mutual trade has grown by more than 30%. According to him, additional opportunities for fulfilling the potential of the economies of the two countries are provided by interlinking of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road Initiative of the Chinese President.
Almost all parameters of the agreement on a new Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline from Russia to China via Mongolia have been agreed, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday during Sino-Russian talks.
"We have just discussed a good project. This is the new Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline via Mongolia. Almost all parameters of this agreement have been agreed. This amounts to 50 bln cubic meters of gas in reliable and stable supplies from Russia," the President said.
The Russian business is able to meet the growing demand of the Chinese economy for energy resources, the head of state added.
Relations between Russia and China are demonstrating stable development dynamics, visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Thanks to the shared efforts, Russian-Chinese relations are demonstrating healthy and stable development dynamics. Political mutual trust between our countries is being built up, shared interests are multiplying, our peoples are getting closer. Cooperation in the trade-and-economic, investment, energy, cultural, humanitarian, and inter-regional dimensions is developing," the Chinese leader noted.
Xi is on a state visit to Russia from March 20 through 22. On Monday, he had a tete-a-tete informal meeting with Putin, which lasted for 4.5 hours. On Tuesday, the Chinese leader met with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and then arrived in the Kremlin for official talks with Putin. The leaders are expected to sign two joint statements after the talks. In all, the visit is expected to yield more than ten documents on cooperation in various spheres.
