HARBIN, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The bilateral trade between China and Russia, which has been growing for eight consecutive years since 1999, may exceed 40 billion U.S. dollars this year, a Chinese official said on Wednesday.

    Bilateral trade was 20.5 billion dollars for the first half of this year and it is likely to exceed 40 billion dollars for the whole year, said Wang Jingsong, an official with the European department of China's Ministry of Commerce.

    Wang made the remarks while attending a Sino-Russia automobile cooperation forum in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

    Sino-Russia trade has recorded an average annual 28.6-percent growth since 1999. Russia is China's eighth largest trade partner, while China ranks third among Russia's trade partners.

    Both countries have planned a trade volume of 60-80 billion dollars for 2010.

    China's non-financial direct investment in Russia was 935 million dollars, while Russia had invested 610 million dollars in China by the end of last year.