Heilongjiang-Russia trade posts increase amid pessimism

Trade value between China's northeastern province of Heilongjiang and Russia reached 22.36 billion U.S. dollars in 2013, up 5.8 percent, said the Harbin customs authority on Sunday. Of the total volume that devoured a quarter of the year's China-Russia trade, the province's imports from Russia accounted for 15.45 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 34 percent year on year. Meanwhile, exports stood at 6.91 billion U.S. dollars, down 3.3 percent compared with the previous year, registering a cumulative trade deficit of 8.54 billion U.S. dollars. According to China's General Administration of Customs, China-Russia trade has downshifted, rising only 0.5 percent in Jan.-Nov. 10 percentage points lower year on year, and concern is growing that trade for the whole year might not grow at all from 2012.