Page 63 - RusRPTJun21

5.2.1 Import/export dynamics
Trade between Russia and China in the first four months of 2021 grew by 19.8% year-on-year to $40.207bn, the General Customs Administration of China announced on May 7. According to the published data, exports to Russia in January-April increased by 38.7% and amounted to about $18.19bn. Imports of Russian goods and services increased by 7.7% to $22.016bn, Tass reported. In April alone, trade between the two countries amounted to $10.803bn. Earlier, Russian and Chinese authorities set the task of achieving an annual volume of bilateral trade of $200bn. In November 2019, at the BRICS summit in the Brazilian capital Russian President Vladimir Putin said that this goal was realistic.
Customs data released on April 27 showed that the Chinese capital Beijing saw an 8.75% year-on-year increase in its foreign trade in the first quarter, with the volume totalling 677.37bn yuan ($104.45bn).
According to the statistics, the city’s imports jumped 9% compared with the same period last year to 548.36bn yuan (over $84bn). Meanwhile, exports grew to approximately 129bn yuan ($20bn), up 7.2% over the same period.
Imports of agricultural products topped 56bn yuan ($8.6bn), up 86.1% on a yearly basis. Iron ore and copper concentrate imports were also
63 RUSSIA Country Report June 2021 www.intellinews.com