China, Russia discuss business opportunities at Far East forum

Representatives from Russia and China discussed expanding bilateral economic and trade cooperation at a forum held this week.

The business forum "Russian-Chinese Cooperation in a New Age" was held on Wednesday, a sideline of the 7th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), which ends Thursday.

In a speech via video, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has been resilient. China has been Russia's largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years.

Russia's trade representative in China Alexey Dakhnovsky said that Russia and China need to strengthen cooperation in e-commerce platforms, transportation and logistics, and facilitate cross-border payments between banks.

Nikolay Kharitonov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, said Russia's Far Eastern regions should strengthen economic exchanges with Chinese provinces. He said they should further focus on developing high value-added products that Chinese consumers are interested in while promoting the development of e-commerce.

Zhou Liqun, president of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia, believes that both countries need to work to maintain the stability of the industrial and supply chains and to foster new growth points in the digital economy, green development and biomedicine.

The 7th EEF kicked off on Monday. The central theme of this year's event is "On the Path to a Multipolar World."

Launched in 2015, the EEF has served as an important venue for dialogue among politicians, business executives and experts for Far East development and regional cooperation.