Tourists buy snacks at a night food market in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, last month. With visa-free entry, the market in the Sino-Russian border city attracts customers from both countries. HAN FEI/XINHUA
Agricultural cooperation is emerging as a key driver of economic synergy between China and Russia, further bolstering already robust growth momentum between the two nations, officials and experts said.
China has been Russia's largest trading partner for the past 16 years, with bilateral trade volume reaching $228.11 billion in 2025, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs.
In the first quarter this year, bilateral trade surged 14.7 percent year-on-year to $61.2 billion. During the period, China's exports to Russia grew by 22 percent, while imports rose by 9 percent, marking a solid start to the year.
Ma Chi, deputy director-general of the department of Eurasian affairs at the Ministry of Commerce, said the structure of bilateral trade between the two countries is continuously being optimized.
