Sino-Russian economic and trade cooperation has entered a new stage in the wake of strengthening bilateral partnership of strategic cooperation.

This is the common view shared by Chinese and Russian officials attending the First China Jilin - Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo, being held in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province.

The Sino-Russian economic and trade relationship has been in a new period of sustainable and fast development in recent years, said Ma She, deputy director of European Affairs Department under the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, on Sunday.

Both China and Russia regard enhanced bilateral economic and trade cooperation as the basis for developing their own economies and consolidating bilateral relations, he said.

The China-Russia trade volume hit a record US$21.2 billion last year, up 34.7 percent over 2003. Bilateral trade in the first seven months of this year reached US$15 billion, a year-on-year increase of over 30 percent. The entire trade volume of this year is expected to hit a new record, Ma said.

The mechanism of Russia-China investment cooperation has operated smoothly, said Goliko, an official with Russian Embassy to China. Two Russia-China investment forums were held in the past two years, yielding 19 contracts with a combined contractual value of US$2.1 billion.

As the boundary issue has been settled, Ma said, the 4,300-kilometre-long border shared by China and Russia has become a bridge of exchanges and cooperation. The border trade volume between the two cuntries grew from US$10 million in 1982 to US$4.2 billion last year.

Jiudichi, an official with Russia's Far East Region of Khabarovsk, said the border trade between Khabarovsk and China reached US$1.083 billion, accounting for 5.1 percent in the total China-Russia trade volume.

Last year, the two countries set a target of raising the bilateral trade volume to up to US$80 billion by 2010.

(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2005)