Trades of goods and services between China and Russia is suffering since the rouble began depreciating substantially since October 2014. In barely one and a half year, the Russian currency has lost half of its value against the yuan. That is hitting hard on merchants at the China-Russia boarder.
This shopping mall in China's northern Heihe city used to buzzle with Russian customers. Now, nearly half of the store owners are gone, and the ones remained close their shops at just 3 p.m. in the afternoon.
In 2015, Heihe city's exports of goods to Russia tumbled more than 50 percent. These trucks here used to be star products in the eyes of Russians because their low price and high quality.Since the rouble dropped, they are about twice as expensive. Chinese truck makers here find themselves facing drastically slimming margins and market share.
Adding to the gloomy atmosphere is fewer Russian tourists crossing the boarder. For Russians, an 8 day trip to Beijing used to cost just around 15 thousand rouble. Now they need 40,000.
The woes to the city's economy brought by the exchange rate is felt across all sectors. Most merchants are already finding alternatives like leaving the city once and for all.
