Russian official considers boosting Russia-China trade to $200 bn challenging but realistic

The task of boosting the trade turnover between Russia and China to $200 bln by 2020 is challenging but realistic, Sputnik International quoted the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich as saying at the Russian-Chinese forum on small and mid-sized business on Monday.

"The task, which has been set by our countries’ leaders to boost mutual trade to $200 bln by 2020 is very challenging but realistic," he said.

According to Dvorkovich, currently the trade turnover between Russia and China stands at around $90 bln. It has slipped recently due to external factors though it’s realistic to cope with the current situation, he added.

China’s customs department spokesman Huang Songping said in January that the trade turnover between the two countries stood at $64.2 billion in 2015 after plunging 27.8 percent.

In 2014, the Russian-Chinese trade grew by 6.8 percent reaching $95.28 billion.