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Russia's Economic Recovery Conducive to Sino-Russian Trade: Experts
Russia's economic recovery in recent years has had a positive effect on Sino-Russian trade and economic cooperation, said Chinese trade specialists in Beijing.
They said Russia's economy, after the financial crisis in 1998, saw signs of recovery in mid 1999; last year, it reported fastest growth in the past decade, with a 7.6-percent increase in gross domestic product (GDP).
As a result, Sino-Russian trade climbed to a record eight billion U.S. dollars in 2000, according to statistics provided by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation ( MOFTEC).
Chinese trade officials forecast even further growth this year, as bilateral trade in the past seven months had climbed 29.9 percent year-on-year to hit 5.54 billion U.S. dollars.
"Thanks to Russia's endeavors for economic development, its banking sector is turning for the better, domestic demands are increasing, and the investment environment is being improved," said Wang Huijiong, a research fellow at the Development Research Center of the State Council.
Experts here believe that Russia's energy, metallurgy, textile, telecom and communication industries all need fund for renovation. "It's high time for Chinese enterprises to consider expanding investment in Russia," said an expert.
Statistics provided by the MOFTEC show that newly approved Chinese-invested enterprises made an actual investment of 14.01 million U.S. dollars in Russia last year.
The stable market and the growing purchasing capacity in Russia have given impetus to Sino-Russian border trade, which rose 65 percent last year to 3.14 billion U.S. dollars.
"Sino-Russian trade has grown in volume and quality," said Liu Baorong, vice president of MOFTEC's research institute. "This is seen in the rise of machinery trade in particular."
Experts here say Russia's economic growth will continue to benefit China and Russia in their cooperation in communication, electric appliances, as well as oil and gas sectors.
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