Cultivating a taste for quality Russian foods

The Russian government is seeking opportunities to sell top quality food products in China.

The Russian embassy in Beijing held an introduction and marketing event on April 7 to promote food products.

More than 100 representatives from the food industries of both countries participated, and 15 producers of chocolate, biscuits, bread and alcoholic drinks exhibited their products.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, the volume of China-Russia bilateral trade reached $69.53 billion (65.17 billion euros; 55.36 billion) in 2016, an increase of 2.2 percent from the previous year.

"China maintained the role of Russia's largest trading partner, and cooperation on agricultural products became an important aspect," says Qu Dongyu, China's deputy minister of agriculture.

Andrey Denisov, Russian ambassador to China, says Russia increased agricultural exports to China by 22 percent in 2016.

Statistics from Russian Customs show China is Russia's largest food export market, the volume of food products making up 11 percent of the country's total exports to China.

The demand for imported food is increasing, and Russia is hoping for an opportunity to increase its market share, especially in the quality food sector, says Denisov.

The ambassador says the Russian agriculture minister plans to visit China more than once this year and will be discussing quality food sales.

Elena Shubkina is general manager of Aleika, a Russian food trade company in Beijing. The company is one of 15 established by the Russian Quality Food Manufacturers' Association.

She says some of the Russian food consumed in China is not of high quality, and she and her colleagues want to raise standards.

"With the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, transport between the countries is more convenient, which reduces the cost of exporting food and benefits both Russian companies and Chinese consumers," she says.

Qu agrees, stressing the importance of procedures being simplified by governments. He sees a promising future for cooperation on food products.

"China and Russia maintain close agricultural cooperation, and the industries of both countries are highly complementary," says Qu.

"These links will become closer under the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union."

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn