HARBIN, June 30./ITAR-TASS/. Russia-China trade may reach $200 billion earlier than 2020, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

“We have a task set by the leaders of Russia and China to raise the volume of our trade and economic relations to $200 billion by 2020,” Rogozin said at a meeting of Russian and Chinese vice-premiers with governors and business circles from both countries at the first Russia-China EXPO that had opened in Harbin.

“But I believe that if we proceed at such high rates and develop large, primarily infrastructural projects to help unite energy of Russia and China, then we believe that this figure can be achieved before that time,” Rogozin said.

Cooperation between Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and China’s Beidou was among the projects both countries had discussed at the exhibition, Rogozin said.

“GLONASS and Beidou fit together well. Owing to the specifics of our systems and the location of satellites, we have no rivals in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in northern latitudes,” the Russian vice-premier said.

China’s Beidou regional navigation satellite system was launched in 2012 and is expected to comprise 35 satellites.

Russia’s GLONASS satellite grouping currently has 24 operational satellites and four satellites in orbital reserve. Russia plans to sign an agreement with China this year to place three GLONASS ground stations on Chinese soil and accommodate three Chinese Beidou stations on its territory.

Russia and China have also agreed on starting cooperation in rocket engine-building, piloted cosmonautics and the joint exploration of the far-out space, the Solar System, the Moon and Mars and the development of a long-range wide-body passenger airliner and profound modernization of the Russian heavy Mil Mi-26 helicopter.

The Russian-Chinese EXPO is a large-scale exhibition site allowing Russia and China to demonstrate competitive products, industrial and technical developments, present their production and investment potential, develop bilateral cooperation projects and establish new contacts.

The Russia-Chinese EXPO was established on the basis of the Harbin International Trade Fair that was successfully held in 1990-2013. In 2013, the fair was visited by about 300,000 specialists from 75 countries. About 1,900 foreign and Chinese companies took part in that fair, which organized more than 80 business events. Delegations from 74 Russian regions took part.

The two countries signed contracts worth $8.69 billion or 79% of the entire sum of contracts concluded during the fair. In October 2013, the Harbin International Trade Fair was renamed the Russia-Chinese EXPO.