China-Russia trade hits record-high in 2012

China's Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan on Wednesday said the bilateral trade volume with Russia is expected to hit a new high this year. Speaking at a news conference, he said China-Russia trade reached 73.6 billion U.S. dollars in the first 10 months of 2012, up 13.4 percent from a year ago.

The vice minister said that China is Russia's biggest trading partner, while Russia is a major trading partner of China. The two-way investment between China and Russia has accumulated to 4.1 billion US dollars.

Zhong also said the local currency settlement between China and Russia has exceeded 2 billion dollars since 2011, and the set-up of a China-Russia investment fund has further promoted mutual investments.