China becomes Russia's 2nd largest trade partner

MOSCOW -- China became Russia's second largest trade partner in the first half of 2012, the Federal Customs Service said Thursday.

According to an agency report, Russia's trade with China amounted to $42.1 billion, or 12.1 percent of its total foreign trade, compared with $42.6 billion registered in trade with the Netherlands, its first largest trade partner.

The country's other top trade partners include Italy, Turkey, the United States, Japan, Poland and France.

Russia's total foreign trade in the first six months jumped 5.9 percent year-on-year to to $406.8 billion. Its trade surplus grew by 12 percent from a year earlier, the report showed.

In June, Russia's trade representative in China Sergey Tsyplakov predicted that trade between the two giants this year will total $90 billion, nearing the 100-billion target for 2015 set during Russian President Vladimir Putin's early June visit to China.

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