Agricultural cooperation is emerging as a key driver of economic synergy between China and Russia, further bolstering already robust growth momentum between the two nations, officials and experts said.

China has been Russia's largest trading partner for the past 16 years, with bilateral trade volume reaching $228.11 billion in 2025, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs.

In the first quarter this year, bilateral trade surged 14.7 percent year-on-year to $61.2 billion. During the period, China's exports to Russia grew by 22 percent, while imports rose by 9 percent, marking a solid start to the year.

Ma Chi, deputy director-general of the department of Eurasian affairs at the Ministry of Commerce, said the structure of bilateral trade between the two countries is continuously being optimized.

He noted that competitive Chinese products, such as automobiles, home appliances and machinery, have maintained strong export momentum, while Russia's supply of energy, minerals and agricultural products to China remains stable.

This national-level synergy is deeply felt at the regional level, particularly in Russia's Primorsky Krai, a crucial Far East region sharing a border with China.

Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Primorsky Krai, has hailed China as a "reliable and stable partner", emphasizing that the cooperation is of paramount importance to the region. Primorsky Krai is eager to deepen collaboration in sectors including equipment manufacturing, deep processing of agricultural products and biomedicine, he said.

The Far East is a key region for China-Russia agricultural cooperation. To meet the storage and transportation needs of expanding grain exports to China, the two countries have collaborated in recent years to construct and upgrade transportation infrastructure in the Far East, including the Heihe-Blagoveshchensk highway bridge and the Tongjiang-Nizhneleninskoye railway bridge in 2022, which provided new international transportation corridors for future large-scale agricultural trade between the two countries.

Highlighting the strong connectivity between the two sides, Kozhemyako said that the region is linked to China through multiple border crossings and over 50 weekly flights. Russia is currently upgrading these border ports to enhance transit capacity. He also praised the high-quality work of Chinese enterprises that have successfully implemented agricultural planting and engineering construction projects in the region.

Kozhemyako reaffirmed the local government's full support for bilateral agricultural initiatives, highlighting the planned Sino-Russian agricultural cooperation experimental demonstration zone at Sukhodol Port. The zone will utilize modern technology for the deep processing of agricultural raw materials from Primorsky Krai, significantly enhancing the value-added of these products.

Song Kui, president of the Contemporary China-Russia Regional Economy Research Institute in Heilongjiang province, echoed this optimism. He said that the two countries have immense potential for cooperation in energy and agriculture. The development of Russia's Far East will also inject vitality into the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China, further promoting the socioeconomic development of both nations, Song said.

The highly complementary nature of Sino-Russian agricultural cooperation is a major catalyst for this development, according to Wang Qun, head of the Association of Entrepreneurs in the Field of Russian-Chinese Cooperation.

"Russia boasts vast arable land, clean water sources and abundant agricultural resources, while China offers a massive consumer market and a mature processing and distribution system," Wang said.

The expert noted that China has firmly established itself as the largest importer of Russian agricultural products, a milestone achieved through smooth policy communication and highly efficient customs clearance cooperation.

Wang said that both sides could further expand the trade of grains, oilseeds, meat, aquatic products and processed foods. This can be achieved by deepening the mutual recognition of agricultural quality standards — such as organic certification, and inspection and quarantine protocols — and improving cross-border cold chain and warehousing logistics networks at key ports like Suifenhe, Manzhouli and other cities in Heilongjiang province.

"Ultimately, this will help build a highly efficient 'from field to table' cooperation model," Wang added.

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn