China, Russia economic ties enter new phase

China-Russia economic cooperation is shifting from scale expansion to a new phase of high-quality development driven by institutional cooperation and innovation, Ding Chao, a researcher at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies, said.

The bilateral trade hit $85.2 billion in the first four months of 2026, rising 19.7 percent year-on-year. Their two-way trade has topped $200 billion for three straight years, with China staying Russia's top trading partner for 16 consecutive years, according to China's General Administration of Customs.

Russia and China are close partners, Pavel Kiparisov, chairman at Russian-Chinese Guild of Commerce (RCGC), said in an interview with China Daily Website on Monday.

Ding noted that the advantage of China-Russia cooperation lies in the high-level political mutual trust between two sides, as well as both sides' willingness and ability to maintain strategic independence.

"China's economic stability also provides reliable support for cooperation," Ding added.

Kiparisov attributed the growth of Russia-China trade to the mutual visa-free policy, which, according to Ding, has addressed the core institutional obstacle that has long restricted people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

"In border cities such as Heihe and Suifenhe in Heilongjiang province, as well as tourist destinations like Dalian in Liaoning province and Sanya in Hainan province, consumption volume of inbound tourism has increased significantly, which is reflected in the sharp rise in the transaction volume of WeChat Pay and the frequency of WeChat mini-program usage by Russian citizens in China," Ding added.

Emerging Russian tourist destinations, including Lake Baikal in the Far East, polar regions and eco-tourism sites, have grown increasingly popular among Chinese consumers recently. This vividly proves that bilateral tourism has entered a new stage marked by high-quality, in-depth and diversified consumption upgrading, Li Na, general manager of Donghong Travel, a travel agency, said.

"In my view, such consumption upgrading is an inevitable market trend and a notable sign of deepening people-to-people exchanges between the two nations, featuring steady momentum and enormous untapped potential," added Li.

While the visa-free policy has unlocked significant growth in people-to-people exchanges and consumption, deeper economic integration between the two countries still faces bottlenecks.

There is still a shortage of talents proficient in areas such as languages and laws, according to Kiparisov.

"This is why both sides have decided to launch the China-Russia Years of Education," Kiparisov said. The China-Russia Years of Education, spanning across 2026 to 2027, aims to deepen pragmatic educational exchanges and provide talent support for bilateral cooperation.

Closer ties between two countries are already felt by its people.

Ira Nova, a Russian blogger who has been living in China for more than six years, shared her impressions. "I think China and Russia can learn a lot from each other. Nowadays we hear more and more about these two countries."

"Our friendship is getting stronger and stronger every day and I'm so happy to hear it, because as a Russian who lives in China, it makes me feel even more cozy spending time here," she said.