BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The strategic partnership between China and Russia has helped the two countries boost their trade to new level and expand their cooperation in energy, science, technology, telecommunications, finance and transportation.

    Figures from Chinese customs showed the trade volume between China and Russia in 2005 reached 29.1 billion U.S. dollars, up 37.1 percent year on year, which was 14 percentage points higher than the growth rate of China's total foreign trade.

    China is now Russia's fourth largest trade partner, and Russia is China's eighth largest trade partner.

    Although apparel and footwear still play a large part in China's export to Russia, China's export of machinery and electronic products to its largest neighboring country has been growing fast.

    In the first 11 months of 2005, China's export of machinery and electronic goods to Russia grew 70 percent, accounting for 24 percent of China's total export to Russia.

    During the same period, China's export of high-tech products to Russia grew 58 percent, accounting for 7 percent of China's total exports to Russia.

    By the end of 2005, China's contracted investment in Russia totaled 977 million U.S. dollars, mainly in fields of energy, mining, forestry, trade, textile, telecommunications, constructionand real estate.

    By the end of 2005, Russia's contracted investment in China totaled 1.405 billion U.S. dollars, mainly in fields of manufacture, construction and transportation.

    In 2005, border trade between the two countries reached 5.57 billion dollars, growing 32.7 percent and accounting for 19.1 percent of the total trade.

    Thanks to China's "going global" strategy, renowned Chinese companies such as TCL and Huawei have witnessed the increasing market share of their products in Russia. Enditem