Trade between China and Russia is expected to remain on a fast track in the coming years, but officials and experts also warned of bottlenecks.
"After eight years of fast growth, Sino-Russian trade has entered a period of correction," said Chinese Vice-Commerce Minister Yu Guangzhou, adding that a certain amount of fluctuation in the growth rate is normal.
Two-way trade between the countries has grown at a pace of over 30 percent every year from 1999 to 2005, jumping 15 percent in the last year, according to customs.
Yu said the neighboring countries should not only increase trade volume, but also "improve trade quality".
China is expected to enlarge its imports of machinery and electronic equipment from Russia, in a bid to restructure bilateral trade.
The Chinese government has made every effort to boost Russia's machinery and electronic exports to China, added Liu Guchang, the Chinese ambassador to Russia.
"China encourages domestic firms to buy products from Russia and helps Russian exporters showcase their products to Chinese firms," he said.
The two governments have also encouraged large companies from both sides to get involved in bilateral trade exchanges and to get their brands onto the markets.
Officials and researchers expected bilateral trade between the two countries would double last year's figure to hit $60 billion to $80 billion in 2010, but they warned there were still bottlenecks in trade development.
"Disorderly trade has become the key barrier in Sino-Russian business," said Liu Huaqin, a researcher with the research institute under the commerce ministry.
Complicated clearance procedures in cross-boarder trade with Russia have seen many Chinese businesspeople consulting illegal "one-stop" clearance services.
The so-called grey clearance covers consumer goods such as textiles and footwear, machinery, and electronic products.
