OREANDA-NEWS China’s Commerce Ministry hopes its trade turnover with Russia will pass 80 billion this year, Vice Minister Wang Shouwen said.

"We expect that this year trade turnover between Russia and China will exceed 80 billion," the minister said at a press briefing devoted to the president’s upcoming trip to Moscow.

The Russian-Chinese trade gained 26.1 percent between January and May of 2017 to stand at 32.39 billion. In 2016, their trade was at 69.5 billion, up by 2.2 percent from the previous year.

Trade will be one of the key topics at President Xi Jinping’s talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. President Xi is scheduled to travel to Moscow on July 3 for a two-day visit.

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai said the countries would also issue two joint communiques outlining their bilateral ties and stances on international issues – in addition to over a dozen intergovernmental agreements.