Belt and Road spurs high-level cooperation

Data from the Chinese Customs Administration in 2017 showed China's exports to Russia increased by 14.8 percent to $42.876 billion, while Russia's exports to China increased by 27.7 percent, reaching $41.195 billion.

In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, China had maintained its position as Russia's largest trading partner. The volume of trade between the two countries has been growing. In 2016, it added 2.2 percent, in 2017 — 20.8 percent, and in 2018, it grew by 27.1 percent, exceeding $107 billion. In 2022, the bilateral trade reached a record high. China has remained Russia's largest trading partner for 13 years in a row.

Trade turnover between China and Russia in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to $53.84 billion, 38.7 percent more than the same period in 2022.

Song Kui, president of the Contemporary China-Russia Regional Economy Research Institute, was quoted in the Global Times as saying, "The strong growth momentum is within market expectations as the top leaders of the two countries have clarified the bilateral cooperation direction. Pragmatic economic cooperation has become an unstoppable trend."