The trade between China and Russia will surpass 100 billion dollars by the end of the year, in spite of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a top-ranking Chinese official.

He Zhenwei, the secretary general of the China Overseas Development Association (CODA), disclosed this in an interview with Sputnik.

“We are expecting the overall trade volume between China and Russia to exceed 100 billion dollars at the end of the year. I have a positive view on that matter.

“Although the trade between the two countries is currently being affected by the pandemic, the trade between China and Russia will show significant growth, especially in the second half of the year,” He said.

The CODA secretary general noted that the Chinese market has an increasing demand for agricultural products and food and that Russia has a number of advantages in that.

The geographic proximity of the two countries, as well as the fact that Russia manufactures products without genetic modifications also work in favour of growing Russian food exports to China, He added.

According to the Chinese customs service, in the first 10 months of 2020, trade between China and Russia decreased by 2.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2019 and is now estimated at 88.1 billion dollars.

In 2019, the bilateral trade between the countries grew by 3.4 per cent to a record 110.7 billion dollars.