Russian-Chinese trade declines in 2009 - trade representative

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9/2 Tass 80

BEIJING, February 9 (Itar-Tass) - Russian-Chinese trade declined last
year by 31.8 percent, making up 38.8 billion dollars, Russian Trade
Representative in China Sergei Tsyplakov said on Tuesday.
Bilateral trade dropped 31.8 percent as compared with 2008, as a
result of which Russia found itself 14th among China's trade partners,
with its share in China's trade with foreign countries making up a meagre
1.7 percent.
Russia's exports to China made up 21.3 billion dollars (a decline by
10.7 percent), while imports made up 17. 5 billion dollars (a 71.1-percent
decline). Russia's positive balance was 3.8 billion dollars.
At the same time oil deliveries grew 31 percent, exceeding 15 million
tons, the trade representative said. According to him, last year Russia
began major supplies of coal to China. "The growth of physical amounts of
supplies to a great extent compensated for a decline of world prices of
these products," Tsyplakov noted.
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