When this year’s China-Russia Expo, which takes place in the city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, closed on Oct 16, it had seen more than $2.4 billion worth of foreign trade deals enacted, involving 21 countries and regions as of Oct 15.

There were thousands of business people from at least 100 countries passing through the expo, with about 6,000 of them from Russia, and about 800 Chinese and Russian enterprises in various sectors, such as agriculture, industrial chains, technology, aeronautics, aviation, and manufacturing taking part in promotional events and looking for business.

One highlight of the gathering was Sino-Russian cross-border financial services, which led to the establishment of a Russian-Chinese alliance of 35 financial institutions in Harbin for of the use of Russian rubles as exchange and cross-border yuan-settlements. There was also a plan to combine China's “One Belt and One Road” program with Russia's Eurasian Economic Union, a plan to develop its far eastern region.

Last year, China was Russia's largest trade partner for the 5th consecutive year, while Russia was China's 9th largest trade partner, with total trade up 6.8 percent from the previous year to a record high of $95.3 billion. Twenty years ago, it was less than $7 billion.