China eyes closer economic ties with Russia: vice premier

MOSCOW - China would strengthen economic cooperation with Russia and realize the bilateral trade goal set by leaders of the two countries, a high-ranking Chinese official said here Thursday.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the 7th China-Russia Business Summit Forum, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan hailed the vitality and positive signs in bilateral economic ties.

China had become Russia's largest trade partner and bilateral trade volume in 2012 was expected to hit a record high of 90 billion U.S. dollars, which would double the pre-global financial crisis turnover, he said.

China was willing to build on the momentum and further expand the trade scale and optimize trade structure, in a bid to reach the bilateral trade target of 100 billion dollars in 2015 and 200 billion dollars in 2020 set by the two countries' leaders, Wang said.

Since the beginning of the global financial crisis, China and Russia had worked together to convert challenges into opportunities and reached fruitful results in various fields, he said.

In energy cooperation, the two countries had made significant progress, he said, citing the construction and operation of a China-Russia crude oil pipeline and sound momentum of cooperation in natural gas, nuclear energy, coal and electricity power.

Wang called on the two sides to focus on cooperation in oil, natural gas and nuclear energy, expand energy cooperation and promote cooperation in upstream and downstream integration.

China and Russia also needed to enhance financial cooperation and financing model innovation to facilitate a batch of major strategic projects, Wang said.

The two partners needed to accelerate the construction of cross-border infrastructure to promote interconnection, Wang said, adding they should also advance the construction of trade and economic cooperation zones and expand mutual investment cooperation.

The two countries should make full use of platforms, such as the China-Eurasia Expo and the Northeast Asia Expo, to strengthen sub-national economic and trade ties, and improve the level and quality of border trade, he said.

The Chinese vice premier also vowed to make tourism "a new spotlight" of China-Russia strategic cooperation and hold a successful China Tourism Year in Russia in 2013.

Economic cooperation between China and Russia had made substantial achievements and benefited the two peoples, Wang said, adding it would yield more in the future.