China’s international import exhibition offers more opportunities for Russia

The China International Import Expo (CIIE) is beneficial for communication and cooperation and will bring more opportunities to Russia, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Alexey Gruzdev has said.

“We look forward to strengthening communication and reaching new agreements with China,” Gruzdev told Xinhua.

It is the second time Russia is participating in the CIIE as a guest country of honor, which means there will be more responsibilities as well as opportunities, said the deputy minister, who leads the Russian delegation to the expo.

Russia’s participation in the CIIE this year features a wide range of areas, including aircraft manufacturing, shipbuilding, agriculture, energy equipment, where bilateral cooperation is already booming or shows great potential, as well as sectors such as digital economy, robotics, and jewelry design, said Gruzdev.

In 2018, Russia’s exports of agricultural products to China reached $2.5 billion, up more than 40 percent year-on-year, he said, adding that the Russian exhibition this year will feature heavily from this sector.

Regarding specific cooperation between Russia and China, Gruzdev said that the energy sector will still be a key area.

The deputy minister also identified more areas that have shown great potential for bilateral cooperation, such as wood processing, investment, chemicals, film, tourism, education, e-commerce, and cooperation between the two sides’ small and medium-sized enterprises.

In addition, Russia complements China’s advantages in high-tech industry and robotics, and the two countries are expected to accelerate cooperation in the fields of medicine, biotechnology and healthcare, he noted.

“The goal of increasing bilateral trade volume to $200 billion by the year 2024 is in line with the requirements of the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era,” he said.

To achieve the goal, Gruzdev said Russia and China have actively cooperated in eliminating trade and investment barriers, ramping up investment in transportation infrastructure, enhancing capability and efficiency of customs clearance and in protecting intellectual property rights.

“Russian enterprises will undoubtedly benefit from the CIIE and China’s opening-up, which keeps bringing opportunities to us,” he said.

“Russia should strive to improve service, product quality and price policies while making full use of those opportunities,” Gruzdev continued.

He believed that participating in the expo is among the most effective ways to communicate and promote cooperation.

“Such activities help us know more about the market positioning of our competitors and ourselves, develop strategies, optimize products and learn from others’ experience. Therefore, Russia will continue to participate in the CIIE and focus on different areas each year,” Gruzdev said.