China lauds ties with Russia, says great untapped potential available

BEIJING, March 15. /TASS/. Chinese-Russian relations have huge, untapped potential, and the strength of bilateral trade is a testament to that, Chinese Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang said on Friday. "Last year, our bilateral trade volumes continued to increase in spite of all the global tendencies and for the first time in history it exceeded $100 billion," the top Chinese official said during a press conference. "This fact reveals that there is considerable, untapped potential for building up ties between China and Russia". Li Keqiang pointed out that China and Russia are both large nations with an extensive border that separate them. "Sino-Russian relations have reached an unprecedentedly height that will positively affect not only our countries, but the whole region and the world, as well," he emphasized. According to data by the Chinese General Administration of Customs, the trade volume between Russia and China rose 1.7% year-on-year, coming to $16 bln in January-February, and during that same period, Chinese exports to Russia shrank by 4.8% to reach $7.07 bln. Meanwhile, the volume of Russian goods and services imported in China saw a 7.5% rise ($8.97 bln). In 2016, the bilateral trade volume between Russia and China rose by 2.2% year-on-year and reached $69.52 bln. In 2017, this number swelled by 20.8% to climb to $84.07 bln, while in 2018 it officially exceeded the $100 bln mark by rising 27.1% and reaching $107 bln. Read more