CRI听力:Chinese Restaurants Boom in Moscow

Just a few years ago, there were only a few Chinese restaurants in Moscow. But this has changed over the past year. More and more restaurants offering authentic Chinese food have sprung up in the Russian capital.

Aleksander Orlov is a well-known restauranteur and the owner of a chain called 'Tanuki' which offers Asian cuisine.

Aleksander has recently opened a new restaurant that specialises in Chinese food.

"Chinese food was very undervalued in Russia. I have been saying this for years. More restaurants are opening now and I think it is a trend and Chinese food is becoming very popular."

A lot of these new restaurants are Russian-owned. But not all. About a year ago, a Chinese investment group, CNPC, opened an upscale Chinese restaurant called 'Soluxe'. It caters mainly for business people, serving imperial Chinese food.

The restaurant's manager Ekaterina Zvezdina thinks that warm relations between Moscow and Beijing have to do with the rise in popularity of Chinese food in Russia.

"I think that popularity of Chinese cuisine has something to do with politics. Russia-China relations are rapidly developing, there's a gas contract in place and many businesses in Russia have offices in China or investment in China. They try the food in China and they want to try it in Russia and take their business partners to such restaurants."

Eight percent of Moscow's eateries closed down between December 2014 and February 2015 as a result of the economic crisis. However, Chinese food entrepreneurs are positive about the future.

"I am sure that this trend will continue. We have difficult relations with Turkey and Egypt is closed now. So I think that the popularity of all things Chinese will continue to grow."

Since the introduction of a ban on Western food imports, European restaurants have been struggling without their foreign brands of cheese and meats. But Chinese food is very much available and welcome in Russia.

For CRI, I'm Julia Lyubova in Moscow.