Trade turnover between Russia and China in 2024 should reach 300 billion US dollars. This is the opinion of the participants of the Chinese national exhibitions China Machinery Fair 2023 and International / China Commodity Fair 2023. The scale of expositions, the activity of participants, and the tone of dialogue between representatives of the countries within the business program of both exhibitions, which took place from 30 October to 1 November, 2023 in Expocentre Fairgrounds in Moscow, confirm the achievability of the announced goal.

Already on the first day the number of visitors to the exhibitions exceeded 5 thousand people. It is especially important to note that interest and attendance at both venues remained at the highest level.

Auto industry and agro-industrial complex are priority sectors of co-operation

According to Vladimir Kolesnikov, Deputy Chairman of the Russian part of the Russian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Russia has become the largest buyer of the Chinese car industry, while domestic agricultural products are a priority in the development of international trade. Liu Xuesong, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Chinese Embassy in the Russian, also drew attention in his speech to the importance of developing priority areas bilaterally.

In turn, Sergey Krasilnikov, vice-president and managing director of the International Bilateral Cooperation Department of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, said that Russian industrialists are currently concerned, firstly, about the need to conclude a full-fledged trade agreement, which Russia and China still do not have for a number of reasons. “Such an agreement would bring co-operation to a new qualitative level, including economic and political,” the expert said.

The huge potential for the development of economic ties between the two countries was also emphasised in his speech by the Chairman of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia Zhou Liqun. He recalled that in March this year a roadmap for the development of Russian-Chinese relations was created. Over the past three quarters, bilateral trade turnover exceeded 186 billion US dollars, increasing by 30 per cent.

This year, for the first time since the pandemic, Chinese delegates took part in round tables on the development of the agricultural, oil and gas, metalworking and machinery markets. For three days, the China Machinery Fair featured workshops and open dialogue sessions.

Among the hotly debated issues were innovations in agriculture and effective environmental protection, cooperation in production, research and development, and cooperation with automakers from China.

The leitmotif of most of the speeches was the idea of finding new opportunities for co-operation in strategically important areas of industry. Market analysts, representatives of specialised associations, businesses and government agencies discussed building effective trade and industrial cooperation between Russian regions and Chinese provinces.

All participants agreed on the necessity of promptly building supply chains of machinery and aviation products, oriented not only at Russian and Chinese partners, but also at interested entrepreneurs of the world.

Business representatives of Russia and China agreed that the bilateral trade turnover next year should reach 300 billion US dollars. Both sides consider this figure to be quite achievable. The past exhibitions China Machinery Fair and International/China Commodity Fair will contribute to the development of Russian-Chinese business co-operation.

Photo: China Commodity Fair 2023