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September 21, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Russia-China trade turnover up 25.7% in January-August
bne IntelliNews
Trade turnover between Russia and China increased by 25.7% y/y in January-August 2018 to $67.5bn, Tass reported on September 17 citing data from China’s General Administration of Customs. In August alone, the trade turnover stood at $9.1bn.
Exports from China to Russia went up by 13.5% to $31.2bn in the first eight months of 2018, while imports of Russian goods to China jumped by 38.5% to $36.34bn.
In 2016, the trade turnover between Russia and China grew by 2.2% y/y to $69.52bn, then jumped by 21% y/y to $84bn in 2017.
The two countries set a target to hit $100bn of trade turnover a few years ago, but that was stymied by the “silent crisis” years of 2014-2016 that hurt both their economies. However, if trade
continues to expand at the same pace as over the first eight months of this year trade turnover should top $100bn by the end of this year.
More recently Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping set a new target of $200bn by 2020 and at the current rate of expansion this looks entirely achievable.
The EU remains Russia’s biggest trading partner with a turnover of €231bn in 2017, but thanks to sanctions and Russia’s counter trade sanctions the turnover has fallen dramatically since 2014 from €285bn.
Russia hit the more recent goal of increasing trade turnover to $80bn by 2017, but more recently trade has slowed somewhat, jeopardising the $200bn target.