SHANGHAI, September 26. /TASS/. High technologies can provide for the main growth in the volume of bilateral trade between Russia and China, which should reach about $200 bln by 2024, Director General of the Russian Venture Company (RVC) Alexander Povalko said on Thursday on the sidelines of the 4th Russian-Chinese Forum "Investment in Innovation."

"The sphere of innovations remains the main sector of mutual interest of China and Russia. Our leaders set the ambitious goal of boosting the trade turnover to $200 bln by 2024, and it is clear that in our rapidly changing and accelerating world, high technologies make the main thing that can bring this growth. The quest for these opportunities, the quest for new ideas, is the topic of our fourth forum," he said.

Povalko talked about artificial intelligence: "Both Russia and China pay particular attention to the development of technologies in this area." He recalled that a separate federal program for the development of artificial intelligence has been set up in Russia, whereas China has implemented an action plan in this area.

According to him, the field of artificial intelligence seems to be promising, given the potential of the Chinese market, the results of cooperation, and the accumulated scientific potential of Russia.

Joint investment in hi-tech

Russian-Chinese investment cooperation in high-tech area has significantly accelerated, there is growth of mutual interest in this area, the RVC director general told TASS at the 4th Russian-Chinese Forum "Investment in Innovation."

"I would not call it a boom, but cooperation has accelerated significantly, interest has grown noticeably," he said, noting that Russia is certainly interested in Chinese capital and a potential market for companies. At the same time, China has recently stepped up its efforts in the development of investment cooperation in the technological sphere against the background of problems in trade and economic cooperation with the United States, the expert added. "This kind of cooperation will grow, at least in the coming year," he added.

The Chinese partners in the RVC portfolio are traditionally interested in technology companies associated with Russia’s strengths. "There is great interest in companies using artificial intelligence technology," Povalko said.

Speaking about collaboration with Chinese partners, Povalko noted that it is necessary to carefully balance interests and study all the details in order to avoid misunderstanding in the future. At the same time, he believes that the idea of a long-term partnership is not alien to the Chinese business.

According to him, in cooperation with China, there are also difficulties in creating tools for a venture fund. "For example, we did not resolve the problem of investing in a Russian venture fund. Withdrawing money from China to Russian jurisdictions under an understandable partnership and an understandable instrument is nevertheless difficult," Povalko said, explaining that this could be due to the peculiarities of Chinese currency regulation.