Russia's commerce and industry authority said it sees a great potential in e-commerce between China and Russia, and hopes the BRICS becomes a long-term mechanism. [Special coverage]
"The projects Chinese and Russian companies discuss mainly focus on agriculture, chemicals and infrastructure," Vladimir Padalko, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, told the Global Times in an interview during the BRICS Xiamen Summit.
Besides Sino-Russian cooperation in energy and infrastructure, Padalko said he believes e-commerce is a potential area of bilateral cooperation.
He said developing e-commerce between China and Russia could boost the trade volume.
Padalko said the Russian delegation to China includes executives from more than 10 of Russia's biggest companies and more than 60 from medium-sized companies.
The five BRICS countries form 23 percent of the world's GDP ... If the five countries stay united, our businesses would have more opportunities than today, Padalko noted.
Meanwhile, Padalko said China-Russia local currency settlement is very likely to become a reality in the future.
"Using the RMB and the ruble for trade is more stable," he said.
Data from China's General Administration of Customs shows that trade between China and Russia in the first seven months of the year was $46.822 billion, an increase of 21.8 percent from the same period the previous year.
China has remained as Russia's largest trading partner for seven consecutive years, the Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday.
"BRICS cooperation has only begun. It has been only a decade since we established the base," Padalko said.
"We need a long history, not one or two years," he said, noting that the five countries came to Xiamen to find a new system which "would be comfortable for all of us."
Padalko said that through BRICS, governments could discuss their taxation systems, financial regulations and other thorny issues to eliminate obstacles to business ties.
