STRELNA /ST. PETERSBURG/, September 20. /TASS/. There is reason to expect that the trade turnover between Russia and China will approach $200 bln, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with China’s foreign minister and director of the Foreign Affairs Commission Office of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee Wang Yi.
Putin noted that at a meeting with Vice-Premier of the State Council of China Zhang Guoqing on the sidelines of the Far Eastern Economic forum in Vladivostok, it was stated that "in the first months of this year, trade turnover exceeded $120 bln." "We have every reason to hope that we will reach or at least get closer to the figure of 200 bln [dollars]," Putin said.
He also emphasized the two countries' outstanding cooperation in sports and humanitarian spheres.
Putin remarked that the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia in March of this year facilitated the continued development of relations between Moscow and Beijing. "I must say that this visit was successful: we can see it in the results of our interaction, because it gave a significant boost to the development of bilateral ties," he noted.