China-Russia Expo marks 10th year amid deepening cooperation

HARBIN, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 300 exhibitors and a 5,000-member procurement delegation from Russia took part in the 10th China-Russia Expo, cementing the event's status as the largest and most influential bilateral business platform for business cooperation between the two countries.

The five-day expo, which concluded on Thursday, has attracted more than 1,500 enterprises from 46 countries and regions to its exhibition area of 55,000 square meters in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, according to the organizers.

For Evgeny Bazhov, chief representative in China of the Russian Export Center, the fair offered a hectic schedule of business talks.

The center is committed to helping Russian companies enter the Chinese market. On its first day at the fair, the center held 104 business matchmaking sessions and engaged with 43 Chinese companies in targeted trade negotiations, with potential cooperation valued at 3.9 billion rubles (about 55 million U.S. dollars), said Bazhov.

He noted that China's visa-free policy had greatly eased travel for many members of the Russian business delegation, proving particularly useful in attracting those attending the expo for the first time.

The expo has offered a glimpse into the deepening business cooperation between the two countries. Over 500 new technologies and products made their debuts at the expo, spanning areas including intelligent equipment, digital security, green building materials and advanced energy storage.

Chinese new energy company, CNBM (Jiamusi) Optoelectronic Materials Co., Ltd., showcased a solar panel material tailored for the Russian market at its booth.

"Unlike ordinary solar panel products, the product can operate normally even in dim lighting like that in the exhibition hall," Zhang Zhihai, the company's deputy general manager, told Russian visitors at the expo. He said the product is well-suited to Russia and other high-latitude markets with insufficient sunlight and cold climates.

"This was my third time participating in the expo," said Zhang, noting that a greater number of professional forums and promotional events have ensured that companies venturing abroad no longer operate in isolation.

New Nanfeng Thermo &Comfort (Cangzhou) Co., Ltd., a Chinese manufacturer of fuel-liquid heating systems, also found a niche at the expo for its electronically controlled fuel-liquid heater, which has helped many Chinese-made vehicles enhance performance in countries with cold weather.

The company's products for cold regions have been exported to Russia via Chinese automakers such as Foton, BAIC and Yutong. "Our primary aim in attending this expo is to establish direct connections with Russian vehicle manufacturers to further expand our sales channels," said Men Tengda, manager of the company's foreign trade department.

Rostec, Russia's state industrial conglomerate, also brought a range of advanced products to the expo. Victor N. Kladov, director of international cooperation department of Rostec, said the company's Ka-32 helicopter has gained notable recognition in China, with units commissioned by police and firefighting departments in Shanghai.

Many of Rostec's radio-electronic devices and electric buses use Chinese components, while the company exports electronic products and technologies to China. The company has also established a medical equipment joint venture in south China's Guangzhou, said Kladov.

"Current Sino-Russian cooperation has long moved beyond simple trade, evolving into deep joint research and collaborative production," he said at the expo.

China sustained its position as Russia's largest trading partner for the 16th straight year with bilateral trade reaching 227.9 billion dollars in 2025, surpassing the 200 billion-dollar mark for the third consecutive year, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

In the first quarter of 2026, bilateral trade sustained strong growth, hitting 61.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 14.7 percent year on year. Chinese exports to Russia rose 22 percent, while imports from Russia increased by 9 percent during the period.

Ma Chi, a commerce ministry official, said at the expo that the composition of Sino-Russian trade has continued to improve, with the share of mechanical and electrical products and high-tech goods steadily increasing.

China's competitive exports like automobiles, home appliances and machinery have remained robust, while Russia's key exports of energy, minerals and agricultural products have provided China with stable supplies. This reflects a complementary integration of resources, industries and markets between the two countries. Meanwhile, emerging trade formats such as cross-border e-commerce have flourished, injecting fresh momentum into bilateral commerce, according to Ma.

As China-Russia cooperation deepens, participants at the expo actively explored opportunities in emerging sectors ranging from advanced manufacturing and smart wearables to cross-border e-commerce and the integration of culture and tourism.

Viktor Kutuzov, general director of Russian tourist agency Kutuzov-na-Murmane, attended the expo for the first time, seeking to promote customized tours for Chinese visitors to Murmansk, a Russian city located inside the Arctic Circle.

Over the past three years, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Murmansk has risen significantly to around 40,000 annually. Kutuzov sees this figure reaching between 100,000 and 150,000 over the coming years.

"There is a high level of mutual trust in cooperation across various sectors between the two countries," Kutuzov said. "The implementation of reciprocal visa exemption policies is set to trigger a significant boom in cross-border travel, providing a major boost to tourism development," said Kutuzov.