Further development in economic relations between Russia and China is impossible without an increase in bilateral investments, a leading Russian researcher said. "The current forms of economic and trade cooperation have reached their boundaries, and we need to find new areas of interaction," Director of the Centre of the Asian-Pacific Studies at the academic Institute of World Economy and International Relations Vyacheslav Amirov said. Russia's trade representative in Beijing, Sergei Tsyplakov told Asian Times Online that Chinese exports to Russia declined by 47% last year to $17.5 billion and Russian exports to China fell by only 11%, to $21.3 billion.
Amirov took part in an expert conference on Russia and China in the new international environment as part of the Russian-Chinese section of the Valdai international discussion club organized by the RIA Novosti, the Russian council on foreign and defense policies and the Chinese Institute of International Strategic Studies. "Further development in economic relations between Russia and China is impossible without a wide increase of bilateral investment streams," Amirov said, adding that participants of the conference stressed the need for the creation of a positive environment for Chinese business in Russia and vice versa.
According to China.com, trade volumes between Russia and China hit a record high of $58.8 billion in 2008. Trade declined by 32% to $38.8 billion during the economic recession, according to Russian and Chinese statistics. In the first two months of 2010, the trade volume grew back by almost 70% year-on-year, which is close to the pre-crisis levels, China.com said citing Vice-Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng.
