During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin stated that Russian-Chinese trade and economic cooperation remains strong "despite the difficult global economic situation, and continues to grow."

He added that the international environment was "mostly unfavourable" for the relations between the two countries in 2012, which led to a significant drop in trade compared to 2011.

"However, we have managed to maintain steady progress in Russia-China relations," Rogozin said. "We expect the turnover to amount to about $90 billion by the year's end."

He also called for continued efforts to expand the range of products and to increase the share of advanced equipment and high-tech products in mutual trade. Additionally, he recommended the increased use of the export promotion institutions that are available in the two countries.