MOSCOW, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- 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 Alexei Gruzdev has said.
"We look forward to strengthening communication and reaching new agreements with China. We are going to promote our products at the expo," Gruzdev told Xinhua in an interview ahead of the second CIIE, which is scheduled for Nov. 5-10 in Shanghai.
It is the second time for Russia to participate 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 will lead the Russian delegation to the expo.
Russia's participation in the CIIE this year will feature a wide range of areas, including aviation 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 crafts, said Gruzdev.
In 2018, Russia's exports of agricultural products to China reached 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in value, up more than 40 percent year-on-year, he said, adding that the Russian exhibition this year will feature heavily of this sector.
Regarding specific cooperation between Russia and China, Gruzdev said that the energy sector will still be a key area. The Russian part of the Power of Siberia pipeline, or the east-route natural gas pipeline, is expected to be completed soon, and Russia will continue to supply oil and liquefied natural gas to China, he added.
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, Gruzdev said.
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 U.S. dollars by the year of 2024 is in line with the requirement 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. Russia should strive to improve service, product quality and price policies while making full use of those opportunities," he said.
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.
