China-Russia trade up 19.7 pct in January-April

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Trade volume between China and Russia has surged 19.7 percent year on year to reach 85.2 billion U.S. dollars during the January-April period, marking a good start to this year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

He Yadong, spokesperson for the MOC, revealed at a press briefing that the annual trade volume between the two countries has exceeded 200 billion U.S. dollars for three consecutive years.

The MOC and relevant Russian authorities have signed cooperation documents on trade and support for multilateralism, He said, adding that the two sides will continue to strengthen communication on economic and trade policies, leverage new quality productive forces to create fresh engines for growth, and upgrade trade in goods and services.

As the upgraded China-Russia agreement on promotion and reciprocal protection of investments has officially come into effect, investment and cooperation of industrial and supply chains between the two countries is set to see continuous improvements with deepening sub-national cooperation, He said.

The MOC will earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, and work to elevate bilateral economic and trade cooperation, the spokesperson said.

The two countries will also enhance coordination in multilateral and regional affairs, jointly contributing to a fair and reasonable international economic order, He added.