Merchants from Russia look at wooden crafts on a trade fair in Heilonjiang Province on August 16. Trade between China and Russia is expected to surpass US$40b this year. [newsphoto]

Trade between China and Russia is expected to surpass US$40 billion this year, after it reached a record high of US$33.4 billion last year, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wei Jianguo said here on Sunday.

"The two-way trade has kept increasing since 1999, with an average annual growth of 28.6 percent," Wei told an opening ceremony of the 3rd Northeast Asia Investment and Trade Expo opened on Sunday in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province.

The China-Russia trade reached US$25 billion in the first seven months, he said.

"Meanwhile, the border trade has become an important part of the bilateral trade," he said.

Statistics show that the border trade between the two countries stood at US$7 billion last year and reached US$4.6 billion during the January-July period this year.

Currently, China is Russia's third largest trading partner, while Russia is China's eighth largest trading partner.

The expo, with the theme of "opportunity, exchange, cooperation and development", attracted more than 50,000 investors and merchants from 61 countries and regions.