Russia, China ink deals worth $15 bn

Two of the world's largest economies, Russia and China signed 27 contracts worth $15 billion over the week end in Moscow, covering diverse areas including finance, direct investment, energy, machine building and electronics.

The deals were signed in the presence of Chinese vice premier Li Keqiang who is on a visit to Russia as part of his European tour. Li Keqiang held talks with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and prime minister and president-elect Vladimir Putin who will take his office for a third term on 7 May, on deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries and on major issues of common concern, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Addressing a meeting on China-Russia trade and investment, Li said that both China and Russia endeavour to further promote their trade and economic cooperation in various fields.

China is the top trading partner of Russia. In 2011, bilateral trade volumes between the two countries reached over $75 billion, registering a 43-per cent growth over the previous year. Currently, China accounts for around 10 per cent of Russia's foreign trade, Russia's first deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov said.

Both the countries aim to attain a trade target of $100 billion by 2015 and a further ambitious $200 billion by 2020.

Energy sector cooperation between the two countries is expected to get a boost as China, the world's second-largest economy and oil consumer, depends heavily on imported oil to the tune of 55 per cent to support its growth momentum, while Russia is the world's largest oil producer.