Special Report: Year of China in Russia

    ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi arrived in St. Petersburg on Friday to attend the 11th International Economic Forum slated for June 8 to 10 in the Russian northwest economic hub.

    As guest of Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, Wu will also present at activities related to the Year of China in Russia, including a round-table meeting on China-Russia trade and investment cooperation, as well as opening ceremony of "Shanghai Week."

    China-Russia trade kept soaring in the last eight years. It hit33.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, up 15 percent year on year, Chinese customs figures show. Russia now plays as China's No. 8 partner in terms of trade volume while China, Russia's forth-largest trading partner.

    Chinese President Hu Jintao has predicted earlier this year that China-Russia trade would reach 60 billion to 80 billion U.S. dollars by 2010.

    The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is a major economic forum in the Commonwealth of Independent States, central and east Europe region held annually in June.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with some 10,000 people from more than 60 countries, will participate in the occasion, which will nearly triple the number last year, Russian media said.

    About 12 investment agreements, covering food, timber, electronics and car assembly industries and worth 3.3 billion U.S. dollars, are expected to be inked during the three-day event.