BEIJING, March 13 -- China is confident about trade with Russia although a slump has been a cause for concern in the past two months.

The decline was billed as a temporary fluctuation, not reflecting the overall trend by Ling Ji of China's Ministry of Commerce on Friday.

Trade between the two countries tumbled 30.6 percent year on year to 61.3 billion yuan (10 billion U.S. dollars) in January and February due to the state of the Russian economy, a depreciating ruble and changing demand in the two countries.

"Both countries are in a period of development and reform which will provide the cooperation and desire for collaboration to remain strong," Ling said. "A new stage of trade will be brought about by favorable policies including the 'belt and road' initiatives."

Sino-Russia trade rose to a record high of 95.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.