Trade and economic cooperation between China and Russia grew steadily last year, with China's imports from Russia far exceeding its exports to the northern neighbor.

Figures released by the General Administration of Customs show that China imported $4.2 billion worth of goods from Russia last year, up 14.5 percent from a year ago, and its exports to Russia declined 18.5 percent to $1.5 billion.

As a result, the overall trade volume between the two countries reached $5.7 billion, up four percent. Russia became China's 9th largest trading partner last year while China was among the top ten trading partners of Russia.

Japan, the United States, and the European Union remained China's three top trading partners in 1999. The other seven largest trading partners were Hong Kong, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Russia, and Canada.

A sluggish market demand in Russia was blamed as the main cause of the decline of China's exports to Russia, according to trade analysts.

But the strong market demand for raw materials in China prompted a sharp rise of such imports as timber, rolled steel and fertilizer from Russia.

Analysts say the economic recovery since last July in Russia has raised China's exports in the time since. China's export to Russia is expected to show recovery this year, they predict.

Trade and economic cooperation is the most often discussed topics between leaders of the two countries and their trade officials. Russia's trade minister visited China early last year while China's Premier Zhu Rongji signed 16 trade and economic cooperation pacts in Moscow during his February visit to Russia.

In June, a Chinese trade delegation visited the easternmost part of Russia to promote trade relations between the neighboring regions of the two countries.

Before President Boris Yeltsin's final visit to Beijing last December, China held a small company exhibition in Moscow last October, and in the same month the two countries started construction of their largest cooperative energy project, the Lianyungang Nuclear Power Station in east China's Jiangsu Province.

"China and Russia are highly complementary in their economies, but the current level of trade and economic cooperation is far from satisfactory in terms of the two countries' economic might, development potential and expectations," said an official with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC).

The official, who declined to be identified, said that China and Russia should clear this hurdle and work to further promote the growth of bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

"We can invest in each other's country, begin production in a cooperative manner, and transfer technology in such areas as energy, metallurgy, nuclear technology, electronics, forestry, ship building, light industry, textile, foodstuffs and space navigation," he said.