CRI听力:Russia to Boost Trade Volume with China

This trade fair has attracted dozens of Russian businesses keen to export to China - everything from logistics firms to banks and electronics.

Since the EU imposed sanctions on Russian products over the war in Ukraine in 2014, firms have been searching for new markets - and some say Chinese consumers are developing a taste for Russian food.

Cheng Weiyang works for a Chinese food importer called Trading Union - he says he's found plenty of new business at the fair.

"In northern China many people like imported Russian food products, they've become popular on the market. So that is why we are here to meet local producers and transport products to China so that the Chinese could eat your Russian food and perhaps some European products as well, legal of course, that will be transported via Russia to China."

Since 2014, the Russian government has been pushing hard to increase cross border trade with China, but instead it fell 28% in 2015. Some sectors are growing, like the amount Russians are spending on Chinese shopping sites like Alibaba, but Russia still isn't seeing the Chinese investment it wants.

Paul Carroll trains businesses in how to make deals across cultural divides - and he thinks he knows why.

"They don't always do the preliminary work -- the work in the beginning that begins the negotiation. So I teach them what they should is sit down and do actually some preliminary work before they even go to the first meeting, before they make the first contact with China, because with China, it is more important than maybe other countries. It's like building a house -- you must start with the foundation."

But the bigger picture is a lot more complicated. China and Russia have long been trading partners historically.

In recent times, a weakening ruble and declining bulk prices are dampening trade across the border.

Those problems will need to be ironed out - as Russia is determined to get firms across China buying Russian products.

The two countries have set a target of reaching 200 billion dollars worth of bilateral trade by 2020 - a big jump from the 2015 figure of 62.4 billion.

For CRI, I'm Elena Casas in Moscow.