http://www.mosnews.com/interview/2005/1 ... ssia.shtml
Russia and China to Double Trade in 5 Years
Created: 02.11.2005 17:34 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:34 MSK
Interfax
Ahead of the 10th meeting of the prime ministers of Russia and China due in Beijing on Nov. 3 and 4, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov granted an interview to Interfax-China.
How does the Russian side see the guidelines of Russian-Chinese trade and economic cooperation?
The main priorities of Russian-Chinese trade and economic cooperation for the next five years will be not only stepped up bilateral trade, but — and this is the main thing — an improved structure of bilateral trade. As of the end of 2004, our volume of trade exceeded the historical mark of $20 billion, rose by 34.7 percent and amounted to $21.23 billion. In the first eight months of 2005, the trade volume demonstrated considerable new growth of 37.9 percent and amounted to $17.7 billion. However, Russian exports to China nowadays consist mainly of raw materials such as fossil fuels, timber, fertilizers, fish and sea products, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, cellulose and ore. In January-August 2005, the share of these products amounted to 87.2 percent of the Russian export. ...