Russia’s SMEs see great potential in trade with China despite barriers

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in 2014 that Moscow and Beijing want their trade turnover to reach 200 billion dollars by 2020. Russian small and mid-size businesses have seen great potential in doing business with China. However, when it comes to daily routine, bilateral trade is strained by multiple obstacles, as CGTN's Daria Bondarchuk reports.

China conducts about 4 trillion dollars in worldwide merchandise trade. Only a small portion of that figure is with Russia, but the train is gathering momentum.

Russia increased import substitution policies to encourage more domestic production and reduce its reliance on Europe especially when sanctions were imposed. The country’s businessmen naturally looked East but came across barriers such as customs clearance, certification authority issues and limited quotas from the Chinese side.

Still, Russian businesses are hopeful that trade barriers will soon be lifted. Economists already expect Russian-Chinese trade to exceed 70 billion in 2017.

(CGTN)